Sea, Sand and Murder
by PuffinsandPelicans
Summary: Irish town au. When Mai moves to the quiet Irish seaside town of Carlingford, she sees her life as dreary and unexciting. However, when a string of murders occur, Mai finds her life filled with more excitement than she bargained for...
1. Chapter 1: Carlingford

**(A/N): One of the reasons why I decided to start writing this story is because I wanted to write something a lot...lighter than my previous work, Amnesia. I really enjoyed writing Amnesia, but it was exhausting to write, and I have a feeling its sequel will be equally as tiring. So, I wanted to write something a little less dark, and I thought, how about an au?  
>It's strange writing Mai as the main protagonist (John was the narrator in Amnesia). It's not as hard as I thought it would be, though.<strong>

**Also, for this au, because it's set in Ireland, assume everyone is Irish unless I say so (for example, I'm keeping Masako as Japanese). And Carlingford is an actual Irish town on the east coast of the Republic of Ireland, for anyone who didn't know. (I didn't just make it up). It's a pretty nice town, actually; I've been there a few times and I enjoyed going there.**

**Well, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!**

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><p>I can't breathe.<p>

The waves knock into me, again and again. The water forces its way into my mouth, seeping down my throat, into my lungs. Each muscle in my body burns like fire, even though the water is freezing me.

To the left of me, I can see the boat sinking slowly, scraps of metal and wood sticking up out of the water. I can hear shouting, then nothing as I am plunged into water; the constant sound of the waves crashing over me as I surface again; nothing as I fall once more. I kick myself to the surface, and I reach out towards the boat, but my body can't move. Amid the chaos and the panic, the stars are shining, and the sky is beautifully clear.

The salt water is stinging in my eyes. I can't see. I can't breathe.

I'm falling.

The ocean is claiming me. I can't fight it. It's dragging me under. My body can't move, and I'm sinking slowly. There's a weight pressing onto me, pressing into me, but I don't fight it. I let it take me as I am dragged further and further underneath.

I don't understand what happened. How did this happen? Why is this happening? We were fine, and then the water just started pouring in. But we were in clear water. No rocks. No banks.

Why did we sink?

It's all over now, isn't it?

I'm going to drown.

Someone grabs me by the wrist.

I'm moving upwards.

What's happening…?

I cough up the water from my lungs, and exchange it for sweet air. The sky is still clear, and the stars shine down onto the ocean.

I'm not in the water anymore. I'm on something sharp and rough. A rock, I think. The sound of shouting has stopped now. I wonder vaguely where the rest of the crew is. I can't see anyone, and I can't see the boat anymore.

My vision is fading now. I look onto the sea. Everything's fading to black now. All I can see are the stars, and a flash of blue. A fish, maybe.

Then it's gone, and I'm gone, too.

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><p>My eyes snapped open in a panic.<p>

I lay in bed, trying to calm myself with deep breaths. What a horrible nightmare…a nightmare about drowning…

My heart racing, I pushed the thoughts from my head. Calm down, it was just a dream…eventually, my pulse slowed, and I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. A beam of light crept in through my window, pulsating onto the rafters and wooden beams above my head. For a minute, I stared up at it, watching the swirling dust and taking in the peace of the morning. Then I pushed myself out of bed.

It had been three weeks since I moved with my brother to Carlingford in Ireland, County Louth, and life in Dublin seemed a long, long way away. We were renting out a small house among the crowded seaside shops, and my brother had managed to get a job at the local police station. Even I managed to get a part-time job at a restaurant and doing the paper round, so money wouldn't be a problem, it seemed. Still, I missed the hustle and bustle of the city.

As I pulled my jacket on over my pyjamas, preparing myself for what would probably be a windy day, I quickly looked at my alarm. It was half seven, so I'd have some time before I needed to start my morning round.

"Mai, you up?" A voice called from downstairs.

"Yeah, wait a sec, I'm coming!" I fumbled for the trap door. The house was quite small, with only a kitchen, one bedroom and a bathroom, so we had converted the attic into another bedroom for me to sleep in. I actually quite liked it; it had a homey feel and there was a nice view of the sea, but occasionally a spider liked to make itself home there, which was never fun.

To get down, I had to open a trap door and climb down a ladder. As I scrambled down the steps, I hit my head against the ceiling, like every morning since we arrived here.

Cursing, I stumbled to the kitchen table, sitting down in a chair tiredly.

"Morning." My brother was working his way through a bowl of cereal, his hair in desperate need of a thorough brushing. "You off for the paper round?"

"Yeah." I helped myself to some cereal. "What about you, you heading off to work?"

He nodded glumly. "Yeah. Another riveting day at work for me."

"Oh, cheer up." I grinned at him. "I'm sure, one day, the headline will be: 'Great Detective Houshou Takigawa Solves the Crime of the Century!'"

He sighed. "More like: 'Poorly Paid Detective Solves Minor Graffiti Incident in Boring Irish Town.'"

I smiled sadly. "It's not that bad here."

Again, he sighed deeply, before smiling weakly at me. "Yeah. You're right."

"Just make sure you don't forget your badge this time." I teased.

He groaned. "That was one time. Are you ever gonna let me live that down?"

"Nope!"

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><p>After getting changed, I ran to the front door, calling as I did so. "I've got a shift at SPR tonight, so I'll be back around 11."<p>

"Ok. I'll see you later."

"See you!" Quickly, I headed outside, unlocking my bike. As I thought, it was very windy that day, and I had to pedal furiously against the gale as I made my way to the corner shop, where the daily newspaper was ready to be distributed. Leaving my bike against the wall, I hurried inside.

"Morning, Ms Mori." I greeted the shop owner: a young woman who was sitting behind the counter, sipping a coffee in one hand and ferociously scribbling something down on a notebook with the other.

She was so absorbed in her work, she barely glanced up. "Morning, Mai."

I grabbed the package of newspapers and hefted it into my arms. "What're you writing?"

She looked up with a determined grin. "An article. I know there's something behind this one, I can feel it." Though Madoka Mori owned a shop, everyone knew she was also an enthusiastic photographer and an avid writer with a burning journalistic passion, desperate to get one of her articles published as a first page story. Her writing was good enough, and she had managed to get her articles into the paper more than a few times, but it was the first page that she was really driving for.

"I'll be off, then." Gripping the papers tightly, I bundled them back to my bike, and placed them into my basket.

"I'll leave your pay behind the counter!" I heard Madoka shout after me. Knowing her, she'd probably already have left on the search for a lead by the time I'd get back.

The town of Carlingford wasn't particularly big, and tourism provided a lot of the income. Regardless, it had yet to be turned into a cheap, trashy place, and the area was well maintained – a lot better than other seaside resorts I knew. The shops were characteristic, the roads were narrow and quaint, and the old, medieval buildings were charming. A long, stone pier reached out to the ocean, and a huge, ruined castle overlooked the entire town. It was a nice place, but it was very quiet. I could tell that my brother was just as frustrated as I was.

After dropping off all the papers, I headed back to the corner shop, and as I collected my money from the counter, I felt my mobile ring.

"Hello?"

"Good morning. How are you today?" The calm, flowing voice, as smooth as a river, belonged to Masako Hara, my first friend here and my fellow waitress at my part-time job in the Seagull's Point Restaurant.

"I'm good. Wanna meet at Piccolo Corelli?"

"Of course. I'll see you over there."

Piccolo Corelli was an Italian café that, thanks to its lack of a nautical theme, was unfrequented by tourists but popular with the locals. I sat outside at a table, basking in the weak sun as much as I could, and eating an ice cream in spite of the wind and cold. It didn't take long for Masako to arrive.

"Hello Mai." There was no other way to describe her than elegant – in the way she talked, her clothes, her appearance, even in the way she walked. Today, she had donned a lacy blue dress and looped earrings of a Native American style.

She drifted into her seat, pushing her black hair out of her face.

"How're you today?" I asked, feeling unkempt in my scuffed jeans and stained jumper.

"I am well." She looked at the list of flavours. "…I think I shall have vanilla."

"You working tonight?"

"Yes, I am."

Grinning, I leant over. "D'you think _he'll_ be there?"

Masako smiled back. "I hope so.

As we talked, she mentioned something interesting.

"Have you heard, Mai? Another fishing boat was sunk last night."

"What? Another one?"

"Yes. I sensed a feeling of departure this morning, and then I happened to meet Ms Mori on her way out, and she told me."

Masako had quite the reputation for being the town spiritualist. It's not a fact that was broadcast to the tourists, but all the locals knew who she was, and many of the older residents regarded her with an intense respect because of it.

"That's, what, the fourth fishing boat in two weeks!" I exclaimed. "Why are they all sinking?!"

"I couldn't possibly say. There was a survivor this time, though. Ms Mori was on the way to the hospital to talk to him about what happened."

So that explained what Madoka was so fired up about this morning. "Why, does she suspect something?"

"Who knows. But it _is_ a rather unusual coincidence. Will your brother be investigating?"

"Well…I don't know…weren't they all caused by a storm or something?"

"Hm. Perhaps." Masako sounded unsure. "But…I have a feeling…no." She shook her head. "Never mind. Wait a moment and I'll go get my ice cream."

As she went to pay, I thought about what she said. It was a weird coincidence…four in two weeks was a lot, and I didn't think that the waters around here were that rough.

Something clicked in my head. Last night, I had a dream about someone at sea…yes, a sinking ship. And I was drowning, but someone saved me. And my boat was sinking.

But…no. I shook my head. No way. A dream can't be related to a real like event. That's impossible.

Yet…

"Is everything alright?"

I snapped out of my thoughts as Masako sat down.

"Yeah, yeah! Just day dreaming."

That nightmare had no relation to that ship sinking. It was just a coincidence, nothing more.

…Right?


	2. Chapter 2: Seagull's Point Restaurant

**(A/N): I forgot to add last time, but yeah, in this story, I'm making Mai and Takigawa siblings. I don't know why. I just felt like it.**

**This is my first time writing an au, and I'm enjoying the flexibility you get when you write one. (Though it's sometimes hard to get that balance between staying in character and adding your own traits for the characters).**

**I decided that I wanted Mai and Masako to be friends in this, because personally, I find their rather stormy relationship in the mangas a little irritating. (I know they get a bit friendlier later on, but still.) Also, I think it will be interesting describing Masako that isn't just "She wore a kimono" all the time. Yay for aus.**

**Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!**

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><p>That night, I was late to my shift at the Seagull's Point Restaurant, and I had to use my bike. Unfortunately, it left me feeling sweaty and my hair was a complete mess. Trying to make my appearance a little less dishevelled, I locked up my bike by the entrance and head to the door of the restaurant. The building was situated on a road that faced the sea, a short distance from the pier. Because of this, it was well visited by tourists – and, more fittingly, seagulls. They were often given scraps of food by the tourists who didn't realise the nuisance they were seen as by some of the locals. Tonight, a few seagulls were lingering around the pavement, and I shooed them away, though they didn't retreat very far.<p>

As I reached the door, it swung open, and I stepped to the side as a large drunken man was propelled out of the building. Falling to the floor, he looked up towards the doorway.

"Aw, come on, missy –" He slurred indistinctly.

"That's Ms Matsuzaki to you, idiot! Go sober up, or don't come back!" The restaurant owner noticed me and smile. "Oh, hi Mai. Come in."

I practically had to step over the drunk man to get in, and Ayako – the restaurant owner who also turfed out any unsavoury customers – slammed the door on him.

The restaurant bar – nicknamed SPR by the locals, considering 'Seagull's Point Restaurant' was such a mouthful to say – was large, but like always, was packed full with people. It also doubled as an inn, and I worked there as a waitress with Masako. Like many shops in Carlingford, the restaurant had a heavy maritime theme, and seagulls were all over the restaurant in some form or another, along with the various anchor, fish, shell and even a mermaid. Despite this, Ayako always liked to have potted plants dotted around the restaurant, and it made a nice change from the nautical theme.

Quickly, I hurried to get changed into my uniform, a blue dress with the restaurant logo – a seagull in flight – embroidered on the collar.

"Oh, hello Mai." Masako had already arrived, and already changed too. Right now, she was clipping her hair back in front of a mirror. "I heard a bit of a commotion back there."

"Oh, just some drunk guy." I stepped behind a changing curtain to get dressed. "What's the crowd like?"

"I haven't seen for myself, but I spoke to John before getting changed. He said we have a good haul of tourists today, and the usual locals."

Hearing we have a lot of tourists was always good news; they usually seemed to tip higher than the locals.

"What about _him_?"

I stepped out, slipping a white apron on, and Masako shrugged

"I don't know. I haven't checked yet."

We hurried back to the restaurant, and stood by the bar counter, slightly out of view from the rest of the restaurant.

"Where is he? Where is he?" I whispered into Masako's ear as we peered into the crowd of people.

"I can't see him…" Masako muttered, sounding worried.

As we searched intently, another co-worker of ours passed by.

"You two alright?" He asked, a tray with various empty glasses in his hand.

"John! Come here!" I beckoned him over. "Do you know where our guy is?"

He tilted his head. "The one you two are always talking about?"

I began to protest. "We're not _always_…" Masako gave me a look. "…Ok, yeah, maybe we do talk about him a lot. But he's really good-looking! And young! And he has a British accent! We might actually have a chance with him!"

John pointed to the centre of the restaurant, underneath a chandelier shaped like a ship steering wheel. Sure enough, there he was. "Who's going to serve him, then?" John asked, looking between us. Masako and I stared at each other for a moment, then held out our fists.

"Rock…Paper…Scissors!"

"Scissors beats paper. I'm serving." Masako declared triumphantly.

"Ugh…fine."

Masako strode over, and John patted me on the shoulder. "Better luck next time, Mai." He then set down the glasses, and went about serving more customers.

"Hey, Mai!"

I turned to see one of the local regulars sitting nearby, leaning on the table.

"I didn't realise you were into surly, moody men." He remarked, an eye brow raised. I realised he must have hear our conversation.

"Well, I'm also into handsome men, but since I can't serve any, I guess I'll have to serve you instead." I retorted.

"Ouch. That hurt." He was grinning, though. "Now, could I have an apple cider?"

"One apple cider coming right up!" I wrote it on a piece of paper. Before I walked away, he said,

"Oh, by the way…" He glanced at the person sitting underneath the chandelier. "…What's his name?"

"He's called Kazuya Shibuya. Why d'you ask, Yasuhara?" Yasuhara wasn't much older than I was, and according to Masako, his family owned a fishing business here. Although he would be applying to university soon, I think his parents wanted him to continue the business, and I wondered if the issue caused many problems in his household. He certainly seemed clever enough to get into a good university, so I hoped he was able to apply.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I recognised him from somewhere."

I hurried over to the bar counter, searching for a glass. Ayako was just finishing serving a customer.

"That drunk guy didn't give you any problems, did he?" I asked, pouring out the liquid into the glass.

"No. He comes quite a lot, and he normally leaves in the same way." She was clearly used to this type of behaviour; not even a single strand of red hair was out of place.

In no time at all, I was hurrying back and forth, fetching drinks, bringing food, a smile on my face at all times. Whenever I served a tourist, and I could tell that they weren't Irish, I forced my accent as much as I could, using every single clichéd and stereotypical phrase as possible. I think I've even said 'Top of the morning' a few times before – as long as the customers tipped, which they always did, I'd say as many ridiculous phrases as I had to. I knew John and Masako did the same, though John stuck to 'G'day, mate' being Australian, and Masako would throw in various Japanese vocabulary to help rake up the tips. We actually got the advice from Ayako, and it never failed us - the tourists always lapped it up.

As I hurried to bring a drink for another tourist, I almost crashed into someone. The drinks on my tray rocked, and I ended up with alcohol soaked on my clothes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Thankfully, none of the spillage seemed to have gone on the customer.

However, the customer didn't even say anything. He just stared down at me, towering above me with a scowl on his face. His appearance had a very rough, rugged feel to it that made me a bit nervous.

I was saved from any more of the tense silence by John, who approached us with a smile. "Oh, Lin! I didn't realise you were coming tonight!"

The man – Lin – broke away from his intense glare at me, and looked over at him. "Hello. Is there a table free?" His voice was surprisingly quiet.

"Yeah, your place by the window. I'll come over to serve you in a moment."

The colossal man nodded, and slowly went over to a single seat by a window. I muttered to John,

"Who was that?"

"Oh, that's Lin." He didn't seem even a little intimidated by the giant of a man.

"L-Lin?" I frowned. "Does he come here a lot?"

"Yeah, he's a regular. But he doesn't really speak to anyone here. He always sits over there, orders a beer, stays for a little while, then leaves."

"Oh. I don't think I've seen him around town at all."

"That makes sense. He works in a light house, and he keeps to himself. But he's really nice."

"Nice? Huh. I guessed 'scary', but…wait. Do you _know_ him or something?"

"Yeah. We're friends. I visit him in his light house from time to time."

Friends?! "O-Oh." Somehow, I couldn't imagine John – cute, small, innocent-looking John – being friends with a man like that.

"Here, let me take those." John suggested. "I'll clean this up and get some new drinks. You go dry yourself."

"Thanks." Gratefully, I passed him the tray, and hurried to the bathroom. Inside, I frantically tried to wash the sticky substances from my clothes, thankful it wasn't something staining like a fruit drink. We were responsible for our own work clothes, and needed to keep them clean. It'd be a pain if Ayako had to buy a new one, and I didn't want to cause her bother when it was only my few weeks there.

As I dabbed water at my apron, trying to dilute the spillage, I decided to open the bathroom window and let a little air into the room. That's when I heard it.

"…come on, it won't hurt to tell." I recognised the honey-coated voice as Madoka's.

"No, no…I can't…Doctor-patient confidentiality, after all…" I didn't know the second voice, but whoever it was had had perhaps one too many alcoholic drinks that night.

"Oh, no one will know it was you! Come on." Madoka asked hopefully. "Any drinks you want will be on me."

"Well…it's funny…no, I mean, it's a lucky escape for that man. Everyone else on the boat managed to escape into the life boats, but he fell in the water. He could have died, really. The water is still pretty cold in summer."

"Does anyone know why the boat went down?"

"No. They say the hold just suddenly started filling up with water, and they don't know why."

I could hear pen on paper as Madoka scribbled this down. "Really?"

"Yeah, but – listen to this. He could have been in shock or something from hitting the water, and he was drowning, so there are a load of reasons as to why he thinks this, but…"

"Go on." Madoka urged him on.

"Well…he says he was rescued by a mermaid." At once, the other person burst out laughing.

"…A _mermaid_?" Madoka asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah." The other person controlled their laughter. "Yeah. He claims he saw a flash of blue scales, like a fish, moving about in the water, and that he saw an arm or something as whatever it was swam away, I don't know…but he seems really serious about it."

A flash of blue scales? Where had I…

In my dream.. .I saw a flash of blue fish scales in my dream…

No way. I was not telepathic, and there was no such thing as mermaids anyway. It was just another weird coincidence.

"Mai?"

Yelping, I replied louder than I wanted, "Yes?!"

Masasko was standing in the door way of the bathroom.

"Are you alright?"

"Ah, um, yeah, I'm fine." I dried my hands briefly with a paper towel, and dabbed my wet clothes a bit more, I hurried back over into the restaurant with her. "Is it busy?"

She nodded. "Sorry to hassle you. It's just getting a little hectic."

The rest of the evening was, as Masako said, hectic. By the time the restaurant closed, I felt exhausted. Masako, John and I sat around table, pooling our tips and splitting the total amount equally between us. There were other waiters and waitresses at the restaurant, since it was fairly large, and other staff that worked for the inn, but today a few had called in ill, which only increased the amount of work we'd had to do. Still, we'd managed to do well today, so I left tired but pleased.

Outside, it was dark, and I picked up my bike as I looked out to the ocean. It was very calm tonight, and the sky was completely clear, allowing the stars to shine down on the water, their reflection shaking and shattering with each gentle break of the waves. It was hard to believe that a boat had sunk in those very waters the previous night. Thinking back to the conversation I overheard, the survivor of the sunken boat had suddenly started filling up with water for no reason. How did that happen without him noticing?

"Hey." A voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see my brother walking towards me.

"Hey!" I wheeled my bike over to him. "How was work?"

"Uh…" He sighed. "Like normal. What about you?"

He didn't seem open to talk about it, and when I realised he had probably been helping the life guard recover the bodies from last night, I understood why he was so reluctant to talk about work.

"It was busy tonight." We began to walk along the pavements back towards home, and Houshou wheeled my bike for me. "A lot of tourists."

As we turned the corner, a thought occurred to me. "Hey…you know that boat that sunk last night?"

"…Yeah?" He shuddered involuntarily.

"Does anyone know why it sunk?"

He hesitated before answering. "…Well, we think it was caused by a storm. There was one last night. But…" He trailed off uncertainly.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's just…four in two weeks…it's a big coincidence, isn't it?"

"It is." I agreed. "But it was just a storm, right?"

"Right."

The rest of the walk home, we didn't mention the subject of the sinking boat again. Yet I could tell, even as we talked of mundane matters, that there was a single thought tossing and turning at the back of our minds like a ship on the waves.

Was it all really a coincidence?


	3. Chapter 3: The Pier

**(A/N): I like writing aus. They mean I can experiment. **

**I was told in a review for Amnesia that I had the habit of jumping around the narrative too much, switching to different points of view too quickly, and that it was a bit confusing, so I've decided to use those big line things. I don't normally, but it's a habit I should break out of. I don't like said big line things too much, but fanfic keeps on eating any dashes that I use as page breaks, so I don't really have any alternative. **

**School is hard work. I'll try and upload when I can, but school often steals the spotlight in my priorities. For this story anyway (The Artefact is a whole other matter) I'll try and upload weekly, though this may not be possible in certain circumstances. I apologise in advance.**

**If you're enjoying this story, feel free to leave a review. Wink wink. **

**Thank you for reading!**

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><p>I'm standing in the shadows by the pier, staring out to the ocean. The boats have been tied up and left to remain on the water, for the ocean is quite still tonight. The scent of salt and spray is strong and cuts through the night air.<p>

Someone walks past me. I can't see who it is, but the carry a big duffle bag and they're moving carefully; slowly. They walk along the pier, towards one of the larger boats – a fishing boat. Quietly, they climb onto the boat. For a few minutes, everything is still as they slip down into the hold, and I lose sight of them. Then, they appear again and, moving surprisingly fast, leave just as suddenly as they came.

Whoever it is, they run past me, and I decide to follow them, intrigued. Strangely, they start walking up the old stone steps on the side of the cliff, on top of which the castle looks out across the town and the ocean. I climb up after them, surprised that I haven't been spotted by the strange person, and the only sound between us is the person's heavy breathing.

Eventually, we both reach the top, and the huge stone castle looms above us. The person halts abruptly, and I almost walk into them. Still, they haven't noticed me. Instead, they kneel down and rummage through the duffle bag. As they do so, they roll up their sleeves, and I realise that they are wearing gloves, and that there is a tattoo on the person's arm; a mermaid, with blue and golden inked scales that shimmer in the moonlight.

Apparently satisfied after a few minutes of rummaging around, they stand up again and throw the bag into a large bush growing by the base of the castle. Then, they walk away. This time, I do not follow.

Not long after, I hear heavy footsteps – a lot clumsier and heftier than the previous person – and turn around to see another person running towards the same bush. This time, I think I recognise their voice as they chuckle breathlessly, but I can't quite figure out who it is. Like the other person with the mermaid tattoo, they throw their back pack into the bushes then, still laughing, run away.

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><p>As the morning broke, my eyes flickered open, and for a few minutes, I remained in bed, staring up at the ceiling and the dancing dust in the light.<p>

That was a strange dream, I thought vaguely. I had no idea what it was about, but what really bothered me was the second person. I was sure I recognised them, but I wasn't sure where from.

Slowly, I got up. Bizarrely, I had the sudden urge to go to the castle and check those bushes. As I climbed down the ladder, I heard my brother calling out to me.

"Mai, I'm heading out now."

"Crap!" I hissed as I hit my head again. "How come you're leaving so early?"

"Someone's graffitied again." He explained, and he sounded more annoyed than excited. "I'll see you later."

"Ok!" As he walked out of the door, I called, "Don't forget your badge!"

Cursing, he ran back in, snatched the badge from the kitchen work top, and left again.

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><p>As soon as my paper round was finished, I began to head straight to the castle. When I reached the steps, leaving my bike at the bottom, I noticed some sort of commotion by the pier. Curiously, I walked over to see what was happening.<p>

There was a police car parked at the end of the pier, and a group of people were standing around, talking heatedly.

"Oh, hi Mai!" One of the people broke away from the discussion and walked over to me.

"Hey, Yasuhara." I greeted him. "What's going on? Is that the police?"

"Yeah. Our boat has fallen victim to that graffiti artist."

"Oh." Listening carefully, I could hear what was being said.

"First my shop, and now my boat." Someone was shouting. "This is the third time! I demand you to do something about this, this…vandal!"

"We're doing all we can, sir." I realised it was my brother who was being shouted at. "I'm afraid you're just going to have to be patient."

"Patient?! _Patient?!_ This cretin is going to ruin my business! And you still never figured out who cut up my net a year ago! I lost a good haul thanks to that, and you never found out who it was!"

"Wow." I whispered to Yasuhara. "He seems a little worked up. Who is he?"

"That would be my father." Yasuhara gave me a wry grin. "He has a special talent for over exaggerating."

"O-Oh."

"And this is the third that someone has graffitied on our property: twice on our shop, then last night on our boat."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's not your fault." Yasuhara waved his hand dismissively. "Or…was it you? Is that why you're apologising?"

"No!" I shook my head vigorously. "I was saying it as in 'sorry for your loss' or something!"

He laughed. "I was just kidding. Anyway, dad's just a little pissed because he won't be able to bring his boat out until all the paint has been washed off the boat. There are some clam farms or oyster farms or something around here, and the local authorities don't want the paint to poison them."

"Oh, I see. That sounds like a pain."

"Dad definitely seems to think so. I think it's quite funny." He admitted.

"What's been painted on the boat?" I asked.

"…Well, it's not exactly Banksy, you know? It's a bit crude. And dad isn't fond of crude jokes."

The man was berating my brother quite harshly, so it wasn't difficult so see how angry he was.

"What're you doing around here anyway?" Yasuhara asked in interest.

"O-Oh." I raced to think of an excuse. "I was just – wait a second." I stared at the people standing on the pier. The group consisted of Yasuhara's father, my brother, and one other person.

"Who's that over there?" I asked, squinting my eyes against the glare of the sun's reflection on the water.

Yasuhara grinned. "Why, it's the man you've been stalking at the pub."

"What?! No way!" I looked closer, and sure enough, it was him – Kazuya Shibuya. "What's he doing here?!"

"He's a police officer. I thought I recognised him at SPR, because he came around to talk to my father after the first graffiti incident."

"No way!" I repeated myself. "Wait – does he work with my brother?!"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask."

"But…he's so young! He looks the same age as me! Surely he can't be a police officer at that age…"

"I think he's one of those child prodigy types." Yasuhara mused. "He's probably really clever."

"Hmmm…" I'd have to find out more about him.

"Yasuhara! Get over here!" Yasuhara's father was angrily beckoning him over. With a sigh, Yasuhara walked back to him.

"I'll see you later, Mai." He called over his shoulder.

I watched them for a while, although I couldn't understand what they were saying, since the conversation had quietened down. It was with a jolt that I remembered why I was there in the first place. Hastily, I scrambled up the stone steps to the base of the castle, and ran around until I located the bush from my dream.

The castle was quite large but in ruins. Stones had crumbled from the walls where plants had grown into cracks, and the main door had long since deteriorated. Now, it had been replaced with a rather ugly metal sheet, and construction around the back of the castle to prevent half of it from collapsing looked out of place.

"Huh." Now I was there, I felt a bit sheepish, despite the fact that no one else was there. Foraging around in a bush because of a random dream…I felt a little foolish. Still, I knelt down and began to part the branches, looking though the undergrowth. I couldn't see anything, so I reached my hand into the tangle of leaves and thorns.

When my hand brushed against something fabric, I froze entirely.

Slowly, and in complete disbelief, I pulled out a small, battered back pack from the bushes. For a moment, I stared at it, not fully comprehending what was in my hands. My movements felt like I was underwater. My body acted on its own, and I looked through the bushes again. This time, I pulled out a large duffle bag.

"No. No way." I felt a little light headed, and had to sit down on the grass to regain my composure. This was insane. This wasn't right. It couldn't be! It was impossible! I mean…these were in my dreams, but that's all it was! A dream! Yet here they were, in front of me.

Shaking my head, I stood up. I was going to have to consult the only person I knew who might be able to tell me what was going on here.

* * *

><p>"…I see. It sounds as if you have ESP."<p>

"What?!" I was sitting on Masako's bed, and I could not believe what she was telling me.

Considering she came from a well-off family, Masako's house was huge, and her room reflected her family's wealth. Her double bed was enormous, and its soft mattress put my own to shame, which creaked every time I breathed, practically. She had a single large window; it looked out not onto the sea, but onto the hills, which were tinged purple from the heather. Still, despite the splendour of her room, it had a uniqueness to it: the dream catchers that hung from the window, the old-fashioned Japanese paintings hanging on the wall, and the tatami mat floor. A Kimono decorated with wisteria flowers was hanging from the door of her wardrobe. Masako was very proud of her Japanese heritage, and I was always asking to see her kimonos and to try them on. They were all very beautiful, masterpieces in their own rights, but they were a lot more difficult to put on than I'd realised.

"It seems you might have clairvoyance –"

"No, wait, wait." I waved my hands. "What's ESP?"

"Extra sensory perception." Masako explained. "It's the ability to know or sense things that a normal person could not."

"A-And what's 'clairvoyance'?"

"Think of it as…visions. I believe you've been having visions concerning the recent sinkings."

"Oh. Wow." It's all I could say, really. I was so overcome with disbelief, I couldn't think of what to say. "S-So…y-you mean…"

"What happened in your dreams is what happened in reality."

"B-But…That's impossible!"

Raising her eye brow, Masako pointed to the two bags which I had brought with me.

"O-Oh. Yeah…still, I thought ESP was made up…"

"Well, I'm afraid I can't guarantee you have ESP. I can't be entirely sure. If we could talk to someone more knowledgeable in this subject, they might be able to verify it."

"Hmmm…" I crossed my legs. "But why – saying, for arguments sake, this is all true and completely not crazy – why would I have 'visions' about a boat sinking? I mean, it was just caused by a storm…"

"Who knows? What I want to know is what is in these bags."

"Ah. I don't know." I admitted. I'd been so wrapped up in the whole dream-is-reality thing, I hadn't actually checked.

Cautiously, we opened the duffle bag first, and peered inside.

"What's all of this?" I murmured. A mess of detached wires lay in the bag, and a few tins of chemicals I didn't recognise were there, too. Curiously, Masako lifted up a can.

"I don't know…" She examined it closely. "Maybe someone was making something…"

We moved onto the back pack. Inside were a collection of aerosol cans.

"Spray paints?" I peered at them. "Why would…wait. The person who graffitied Yasuhara's boat! This must be theirs!"

"Then, we have to tell the police!"

I hesitated. "I saw my brother down at the pier this morning. Let's go find him."

Hastily, we ran down to the pier, the aerosol cans clinking in the back pack as we moved. After a few minutes of wandering around the port, we finally found him, hastily picking a collection of stray items from the road. As we approached, we realised John was there, doing the same.

"I'm so sorry." Houshou was saying. "I didn't see you there."

"It's ok." John smiled at him. "I wasn't looking where I was going, either."

Looking on the scene, I realised that John, who had been carrying a shopping bag, must have crashed into my brother, and now his purchases had fallen onto the road. That sounded like the beginning of a terribly clichéd romance novel or something, I thought to myself.

Stopping a bottle just before it rolled off the edge of the pier, my brother helped John to his feet.

"Sorry about that." He apologised again. "If anything's broken, I'll pay for it."

"Oh no, don't worry about it. Everything's fine, anyway." John reassured him. As we neared, he saw us and smiled.

"Oh, hey Mai, Masako." John greeted us pleasantly. "How are you today?"

"Um…" Immediately, I looked down at the bag in my hands. I still couldn't wrap my thoughts around how I had seen it in my dream, and how was actually real. ESP? Clairvoyance? It was crazy.

Masako nudged me, interrupting my thoughts, and I realised I needed to answer instead of soliloquising.

"O-Oh! Sorry! Yeah, I'm grand! How about you?"

"Wait." Houshou looked between us, puzzled. "Do you guys know each other?"

"Yeah. We work at SPR together." I explained.

"I'm John Brown." John held out his hand, and Houshou shook it. "I work with Mai as a waiter at SPR."

"I'm Houshou Takigawa. Mai's brother. I work at the station as a police officer."

"Oh, you're siblings? I see. You look a little similar."

"Oh, we don't." Houshou assured him.

"Yeah, we look nothing alike." I agreed. "Oh, yeah! Houshou. We were looking for you."

"Oh. What's wrong?" Even though he was on duty, Houshou looked pretty relaxed. Well, nothing really happened around here anyway, so I understood why he was so unperturbed.

Again, I stared down at the bag in my hands, and my mind raced as I thought of what to say. I would have to say it…carefully. Subtly.

"Uh…well…we found this in the bushes and it has a load of aerosol cans inside and we think it belongs to the graffitist."

Masako rolled her eyes at my lack of tact, while Houshou stared at me in shock.

"…You what?" He finally asked. I passed him the bag, and he rummaged inside.

"When did you find this?!" He asked in disbelief.

"T-Today. I was just, you know, hanging by the castle, and I happened to look in the bushes. Like, I just happened to look. You know?"

Masako gave me an exasperated look at my terrible lying powers, and I shrugged.

Thankfully, my brother didn't seem to notice; he was far too absorbed in the fact that he had been handed a bag filled with evidence.

"By the castle? Right, I better go find Shibuya. You haven't seen a kid in a uniform wondering around here at all, have you?"

"Wait. Kazuya Shibuya? So you do work with him!" I scowled. "Why didn't you say you worked with such a handsome guy? Who happens to be our age, too!"

"Oh, you work with Kazuya Shibuya?" John tilted his head. "I'm pretty sure he rents out a room at the inn like I do."

That must have been why he turned up so frequently at the restaurant. "Houshou, why didn't you tell us?"

"Why? Are you interested in a moody guy like him?"

I blushed, and Masako protested, "We're just fond of people who are aesthetically pleasing. Is that such a crime?"

Houshou scowled. "He's handsome alright, I'll give you that. But he's really irritating. Even though he's only 17, and we're partners, he's always acting like he's better than me and more clever than me –"

"Wait, he's your partner?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, and an annoying partner. He's always wandering off, always talking about that psychic nonsense, and always acting patronising towards me."

"Wait. Psychic nonsense?" I asked.

"He's obsessed with parapsychology or something. He's always reading books about it. It's the only thing he's willing to talk about freely. It's exhausting."

He liked _what_? I glanced at Masako, and she seemed to be thinking what I was thinking.

"Look, I'd better get this back to the police station." With that, Houshou hurried away, calling over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, Mai! Thanks for the evidence!"

"Uh…no problem…" I called weakly after him.

"Well, I'd better get going." John shifted the grocery bag in his arms. "I need to get this milk in the fridge."

"Hey, which way are you going?" I asked. It looked as if he was walking out to the pier, which was a little strange if he was heading back to SPR.

"Oh, I'm going to the lighthouse. Lin asked me to do a little shopping for him. Mainly cat food."

I still couldn't imagine John and that huge light house owner being friends. "O-Oh. Are you working tonight?"

"Yeah. You are too, right?"

We both nodded.

"Ok, I'll see you then."

He was a long way down the pier when I noticed that he had dropped a tin of cat food and forgotten to pick it up.

"Oh. John forgot this." It was a little dirty from being on the ground, so I gave it a quick brush over with my sleeve – something that made Masako sigh disapprovingly. As I did so, something fell into my hand.

It was a small scale, I think. Somehow, that was the first thought to pop into my head. A scale. It didn't look like a scale from any fish around here, though. It was bright blue, and quite sharp at the tips. At first, I made to simply through it away, but something stopped me. I wasn't sure what, but something told me that that scale was important.

"What's that?" Masako asked, peering at the scale in my hands.

"Oh, nothing. Just a scale." I put it in my pocket. "But, d'you reckon that our favourite customer will be here tonight?"

Masako smiled. "I do hope so."

I grinned back. "Yeah. Do you think he can help clear up this whole…ESP thing?"

"Maybe. I just don't know how you're going to get the subject started without sounding strange, considering your wonderful tact today."

"Hey. I wasn't _that_ bad…" Masako gave me a look. "…Ok, maybe I wasn't brilliant…"

"Either way, we need to ask him about him. And as for that duffle bag, maybe you should give that to your brother as well?"

"Yeah, I guess…" I thought about the rest of the dream. Who was the person with the mermaid tattoo? What was the purpose of the duffle bag? Why were they on that boat?

Most of all, there was the matter of this 'ESP'. Did I really have it? Was I…psychic?

We needed to find Kazuya Shibuya.


	4. Chapter 4: In the Hold

**(A/N): I realised I made a mistake when writing this - I always forget this, but Yasuhara's first name isn't actually Yasuhara, it's Osamu, yet I always refer to him as 'Yasuhara' but oh well. Everyone else seems to do it, so I don't care that much. **

**Oh yeah, in this story, Yasuhara's father is Hideharu Matsuyama, a.k.a. the douche bag teacher from Forbidden Pastimes at Yasuhara's school. I forgot to mention that earlier. Sorry about that.**

**This chapter is not as long as I thought it was, so sorry about that.**

**Will there be Mai/Naru? Hmm. You'll have to read to find out... ;)**

**Thank you for reading (and thank you to those lovely people who left some very nice reviews :D) ad I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>I spent a lot of my shift at Seagull's Point Restaurant waiting for Kazuya Shibuya to arrive, and trying to figure out how I'd approach him and start the conversation. Tonight was a lot less busy, and it was mainly the locals who were at the restaurant that night. Once again, Ayako had to throw out the drunken man from the previous night, but other than that, it was pretty quiet.<p>

"It's pretty quiet, isn't it?" Yasuhara voiced my thoughts as I served him. "Though I prefer it that way."

"Yeah…" I was only half listening; I was still thinking of how I'd bring up the conversation.

"Hey, is that your brother?"

"Yeah…"

"He's totally chatting up John."

"Yeah…Wait, what?!"

I peered over. My brother was sitting down at a table, and John was serving him. They were talking friendlily together, and if I didn't know my brother better, I'd say he looked a little shy.

"What. What." I stared at them. "Are they going to hook up?"

"I don't know. I don't think the light house keeper looks very happy about it. Maybe he's one of those 'protective father' types?"

I glanced over to the window seat, where Lin was sitting. He was watching the two very closely, in particular Houshou. From the intentness of his gaze, I was surprised my brother didn't notice.

"Oh my gosh." I breathed. "John's writing something down."

"Probably his order. You know, because that's what waiters do. Write down people's orders." Yasuhara pointed out, amused, and I shushed him.

"No, no, look. He's giving it to him. Oh my gosh." I grabbed Yasuhara's shoulder and squeezed it. "He's giving him his number! Oh my gosh!"

"Ow!" Yasuhara rubbed his shoulder. "Hey, hey, John's coming this way, act natural."

I fumbled for my notepad and began scribbling down random letters. "Ok, that's one cider! I'll go get that immediately for you! It's not a problem! Apple cider, right? Apple is my favourite!"

John walked past, oblivious.

Yasuhara crossed his arms. "You really suck at 'acting natural'."

"Shut up. I try my best. Do you want an apple cider, though?"

Yasuhara smiled. "You know me too well."

As I went to go get it for him, I realised that, with the drama of my brother chatting up one of my co-workers, I had completely failed to notice that the person I had been waiting for ever since I arrived on my shift was finally there. As soon as I served Yasuhara, I headed over to him, getting my notebook out quickly.

When I neared, though, I slowed to a halt. Another man, who I didn't recognise, was talking to him confidentially.

"Look, I heard that, for paranormal experiences, you were the bloke to go to." He was saying. "And I've had a paranormal experience."

"…Go on." Kazuya Shibuya said, after some hesitation.

"So…I was on this boat two nights ago, and it sank. I almost drowned. But someone saved me. Something saved me."

"What do you mean?"

"…Everyone's saying I'm crazy, but I _know_ what I saw. It…It was a person…but with a fish tail."

Kazuya Shibuya stared at him. "…You mean a mermaid?"

"Yeah, yeah, that."

So this was the man that Madoka Mori had been talking about the other night…

"…I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid my area of expertise is that of spirits, PK and ESP. I can't help you, it seems."

"Oh." The man looked crestfallen. "Ok. Sorry for wasting your time."

"That's fine." As soon as the other man had left, I hurried over.

"Hello, are you ready to order?" I asked, smoothing out my hair.

"Ah, yes." He was even more handsome up close. "Could I have some Bulmers, please?"

"Of course." I wrote it down as slowly as possible. "…So…you, um…I'm Mai. You work with my brother."

"Your brother is Houshou Takigawa?"

"Yeah, that's the one!"

"You two look alike."

I laughed, and shook my head. "Not really, honestly. Anyway, I've heard that you're into…parapsychology, was it?"

"Yes."

"Well…you see…how do I put this…do you think I could talk about it with you, perhaps? Y-You see, I think I…witnessed something paranormal recently, so…"

Kazuya, at once looking intrigued, smiled a little, which only improved his good-looks. "I have a day off tomorrow. How about we talk then?"

I couldn't help but grin, thankful for how willingly he was agreeing to this. "Ok, that sounds grand. Have you heard of a café called Piccolo Corelli?"

* * *

><p>Sitting at the café the next day, I waited anxiously for Kazuya to arrive. For the entire morning, I had been texting Masako furiously with questions such as: What should I wear? Formal or casual? Or formal-casual? What if I was stood up? Did this count as a date? What if he didn't believe me about the ESP thing? In the end, I convinced Masako to come along too, and she sat at a nearby table, stirring at latte and ready to stand in and rescue me if things went disastrously.<p>

Outside, it had started raining half way to the café, catching my unprepared and ruining my hair. I knew that, in no time at all, it would go frizzy and unkempt. Self-consciously, I tried flattening it a little, then ran my combed my fingers through it to give it back some volume. Nervously, I glanced at Masako, looking for an opinion on my appearance, and she looked up as well, giving me a thumbs up. A second later, I glanced down as my phone buzzed.

_You'll be fine. You look great. Xx_.

I gave her a grateful smile, and my feelings of nervousness faded a little.

Moments later, I looked up to see Kazuya Shibuya walking into the café, running his hand through his wet hair as we put down his umbrella, shaking off the rain water from the cover.

"Ah. Good afternoon." He sat down opposite me, and shrugged off his wet coat. "You look well."

"U-U-Um, thanks…"

Looking at the menu of drinks, he asked me, "Do you know what you'd like to drink?"

"Oh, I'll probably just have a c-cappu-cappuccino." My tongue tripped around the word. "W-What about you?"

"I think I'll go for a cup of tea."

My nerves couldn't take it anymore. "H-How about I go order?"

Not waiting for a response, I dashed off to the counter to order the drinks. Ok, Mai. Calm down. Act cool.

Bringing the drinks over to the table, I placed them down and sat back in my seat.

"So, um…you're pretty young to be an officer."

"That's true. But I was offered a place to study early."

"A-Ah. You must be pretty clever, huh?"

"You could say that." He said smugly.

"So…" I still couldn't bring myself to bring up the ESP matter. "…What's it like working with my brother?"

He considered it. "Well, on our first day together, he forgot his badge."

I chuckled. "Oh yeah. That was a laugh."

"So, you wanted to speak about a paranormal incident you experienced?"

"Ah. Yeah." I moved my hair behind my ear. "Well…ok, how do I put this…I had a dream."

"A dream?"

"Yeah. And in my dream, someone hid some bags in a bush. So, when I woke up, I looked in these bushes. And, uh, the bag was there! Crazy, right?" I chuckled nervously, sipping my cappucino.

Kazuya stared at me, intrigued. "Tell me about this dream."

I explained to him the contents of my dream, and when I mentioned the back pack, he frowned.

"…Did you tell your brother about this dream, by any chance?"

"Not exactly. But I did give him the back pack when I found it."

Kazuya rolled his eyes. "So _that's_ how he found it…well, from what you've described to me, it seems like you have ESP. Clairvoyance, most likely."

I still couldn't believe what I was hearing. "W-W…Are you sure about that?"

"There's a test you could take if you want to be certain. May I ask, have you had any other strange dreams recently?"

"Yeah, I had one where I was drowning and…" I paused, frowning. Something occurred to me.

"…Ok. Let's say, for arguments sake – only for arguments sake, just to make that clear – that I have ESP or whatever."

"Go on."

"Ok. So, I had this dream where I was drowning, and I'm pretty sure a boat was sinking. I thought I was going to die, but someone saved me."

Kazuya frowned and asked urgently, "When did you have this dream?"

"About three nights ago. The night of the boat sinking. Do you think – if I really have ESP, that is – that that dream could have been about the boat sinking?"

Kazuya closed his eyes in thought. "…That is a very probable possibility."

"Ok. But…something's bothering me." I frowned. "Everyone says that the reason that boat sank was because of a storm, right?"

Kazuya nodded. "It's hard to be sure, but we managed to pinpoint roughly where the boat sank. It wasn't particularly far from the pier, and there were no rocks or other hazards like that about, so a storm is our best guess."

"Well, it's just…in my dream, I remember looking up, and I could see the stars. The sky was really clear that night. If it was a storm, then why was the sky so clear? I mean, to sink a fishing boat, it would have to be a pretty big storm, right? So why was the sky so clear?"

Kazuya frowned. "…That is puzzling." He furrowed his brow. "…Unless…" His eyes widened, as if he had just figured something out. "…Mai, what did you say was in that duffle bag?"

"Just a bunch of wires and some tins. Why?"

He looked troubled. "And you say the person with the duffle bag went into a fishing boat?"

"Yeah." I paused. "…Now that I think of it, I think it was Yasuhara's boat. But, you know, it might mean nothing. Because I probably don't have ESP."

He didn't seem to be listening. "I need to search this boat."

"Wait, what?"

He stood up and put on his coat. "Thank you for your help."

"W-W-W…I didn't do anything! Wait, you can't go search a boat based on a dream! It probably means nothing!"

He buttoned up his coat. "I knew that this wasn't an accident. Four boats don't just sink like that in such a small time frame. I knew it."

"What?! What are you talking about?! It was just a dream!" I threw a look of confusion towards Masako. "I don't have ESP! Like…yeah, I had those dreams, but…ESP? That's impossible!"

Kazuya scoffed. "It's perfectly possible, let me reassure you." He began to hurry from the café.

I turned to Masako. "Come on!" I called, before following him out into the rain. Muttering something about not being able to finish her latte, Masako followed me reluctantly.

* * *

><p>Outside, it really was tipping it down, and I quickly opened up my umbrella, before running to catch up with Kazuya.<p>

"Kazuya, wait! You can't just assume something like that based off a dream I had!" I insisted.

"Well, I can't completely deny the possibility either." He retaliated. "If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. But if I'm right, then it changes a lot."

Masako caught up with me. "What's going on?"

"Apparently, I have clairvoyance, and now that means that the boat accidents weren't really accidents."

Kazuya rolled his eyes. "When you put it that way, it makes me sounds crazy."

"Well, this whole thing is crazy!" We had arrived at the pier. "My dream can't have any relation to what's happening in real life!"

"Unless you have ESP." Kazuya countered.

"He has a point." Masako joined in seriously. "If you do have ESP, then your dreams could be important.

I groaned. "Not you too, Masako!"

"I'm searching this boat." Kazuya approached Yasuhara's fishing boat, which was still tied up at the pier from yesterday. On the hull, I could see some faint traces of paint from the graffitist. "If you're right, Mai, and your dream has no meaning, then there'll be nothing on board. But I can't put my mind to rest until I've searched it. Ok?"

I crossed my arms, frowning. "…Shouldn't you have a warrant or something?"

"It'll be fine." He got on board carefully, and called back to me, "You said the person went into the hold, right?"

"Yeah, yeah…" I scowled. "You make sure you don't get caught."

For a minute, I waited, as the rain continued pouring down. "This is unbelievable." I muttered.

"Well, so is finding those bags based off your dream, but that still happened." Masako reasoned, and I sighed.

"Yeah, but…it can't be true, right? It's just a coincidence…right?"

"Well, we'll see."

Soon, Kazuya emerged from the hold, getting out his mobile.

"Let me guess. Nothing was there, like I said." I called out.

He shushed me angrily as he dialled a number and held the phone to his ear.

"Fine! Whatever! I don't care. I'm going home." I turned angrily and began to walk away.

"Is this Houshou?" Kazuya was asking. "…I think we need to rethink the boat incidents…"

The next words made me freeze where I stood. "I found a bomb in the hold of the Matsuyama family's boat."

I turned around slowly, sharing a look of shock with Masako. Did he say…bomb?


	5. Chapter 5: Blue Marlin

**(A/N): I apologise for being a day late in my update. I meant to update yesterday, but was unable to due to some certain circumstances, i.e. homework.**

**Again, this chapter is rather small (at least by my own standards). I think they will end up getting longer the further I go into this story.**

**Mai and Kazuya shout a lot at each other, especially Mai. Sometimes, I find this quite tedious to replicate. I don't think there are many episodes of Ghost Hunt where Mai _doesn't_ shout at someone or something...**

**Who would have a research group called SPR indeed? (You'll understand when you see my (read: terrible) marvellous joke later on.)**

**Oh, by the way, Kenshou Imura is a character who only appears in the manga, not the anime. He is a monk from...someplace I can't remember who also goes to the mansion in the Blood Stained Labyrinth arc to investigate the disappearances. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Maybe if you liked it, you could read a nice review... ;) Thank you for reading!**

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><p>At the restaurant, although it was pretty quiet, everyone was talking excitedly about the same thing: the bomb found in Yasuhara's boat.<p>

"Ok, ok." One man said. "Maybe this: someone in the fishing industry did something real bad, and now someone's out to get revenge, by sinking all those boats?"

"But why all the boats? Why not just the person who angered them?" Someone else called out.

Everyone in the restaurant was gathered around the front section, near the bar counter, and the room was unusually quiet. The customers consisted only of locals, and everyone wanted to discuss the shocking information that was revealed today. Only Lin, sitting at his window seat like normal, hadn't joined in the conversation.

Since all that anyone wanted was a drink, and everyone was right at the front anyway, I didn't have to be running back and forth like normal, so I got to hear a lot of the conspiracy theories and speculations that were floating around, as did John and Masako.

Earlier on, when Kazuya had found that bomb, he called for back up, and we were questioned. I had to tell the police – or rather, my brother – about the duffle bag we had found, but I didn't mention the fact I had found it based on a dream.

"Man, Mai." Houshou scratched his head. "Are you telling me you found that duffle bag with all those wires and things inside it, and didn't think it was suspicious at all?"

I shrugged unhelpfully, and he groaned. "Mai, you should have told me!"

"Well, you got the credit for the bag with the aerosol cans." Kazuya remarked snidely, having heard the conversation. "It's only fair I get the credit for this." He moved on before Houshou could reply with something insulting, talking to another officer.

Of course, Yasuhara and his family had been told about the incident, and from there, the rumour had managed to circulate the entire town.

"Tell us again, Yasuhara." Madoka, obviously, was writing down every piece of information she heard. "What exactly did they tell you?"

Yasuhara had become the centre of attention and the source of information, and had been forced to recount what the police had told him several times to help differentiate between fact and rumour.

He sighed, but I think he was enjoying himself. "Well, they came up to us, and told us that a small bomb had been found in the hold of our fishing boat. It was a remote controlled one, so it hadn't gone off. They reckon whoever put it there was waiting for the boat to head out to sea before blowing it up, and if it had blown up while we were at sea, we would have sunk."

There was a moment of hushed murmurings.

"Well, our 'Sea, Sand and Sun' image is ruined, isn't it?" Madoka didn't sound troubled by this; if anything, she sounded pleased. "The tourist company is going to have to change its motif now." She chuckled, referring to the constant phrase the tourist companies liked to use about the town: 'Sea, Sand and Sun.'

"So, do they think that those other sinkings weren't actually caused by a storm or sharp rocks after all, then?" Ayako wondered, drying a glass absent-mindedly. "Or was this a one-off?"

"I don't know. They didn't say." Yasuhara admitted. "But they looked very serious. I think they're definitely considering it."

"Of course it was the same person!" Someone called out. "Four boats – all fishing boats – don't sink in just two weeks by accident!"

"Well, I want to know how the police even found that bomb." Ayako remarked. "What made them think to look on your boat, Yasuhara? I would ask, but it looks like Kazuya isn't here today." Both Kazuya and Houshou were being kept late at the police station to investigate further into the matter of the bomb.

He shrugged. "I have no idea."

Masako and I glanced at each other. Kazuya had said he was just 'investigating the graffitist' when he had found the bomb. There was no way he would tell them the real story.

As for me, I was still shell-shocked about the fact the bomb was found on there. Kazuya had been right. This meant I had ESP. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I was…psychic. How was that even possible? I was pretty sure I hadn't been possible for the past 15 years of my life, so why now?

"…Mai. Mai." I hadn't even noticed that John was trying to talk to me.

"S-Sorry?"

"You look a little pale. Are you alright?" He asked, concerned.

"I-I'm fine. I was just thinking about, well, you know. The bomb. Why would someone do that to Yasuhara's boat?"

At my remark, an older man called out, "Well, Hideharu isn't exactly overflowing with popularity, you know? With a temper like his!"

Everyone laughed, including Yasuhara, who didn't seem abashed or angered by people making fun of his father.

"Still, it's a good job the police managed to find that bomb before the boat went out to sea." John commented. "If they hadn't found it, and the boat had gone to sea…"

Ayako chuckled to herself, pouring out a beer for someone. "Well, that graffitist deserves a well done! If the boat hadn't been graffitied, and hadn't been grounded while the paint was being removed, then I think we'd be telling a very different story here."

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"Still…" Yasuhara sighed. "Who would do this to our boat? To any of the fishing boats?"

"Isn't it obvious?" An old man called out. He was bald, and missing a few teeth. He worked in a local crafts shop, and I think his name was Kenshou Imura. "Someone has a grudge against the whole fishing industry around here. Not just an individual fisher. The fishing community must have done something real bad."

Yasuhara glared at him. "Excuse me, but my family happens to work in the fishing industry. I hope you have a reason for believing that."

"Aye, I do." He laughed, and drank some beer. "But I don't have the whole story."

We all stared at him. Ayako sighed. "Don't just sit there being melodramatic, Imura. Tell us what you think."

He drained his glass. "Give me another beer and I'll comply."

Rolling her eyes, Ayako poured one out, and passed it to me. When I gave it to him, he took a long drink from it, almost draining it completely.

"…It was fifteen years ago." He began. "Now, I don't know _all _the details. I'm only a humble crafter. But…" He lowered his voice. "…There was a _murder_ in this town."

Everyone was silent as he continued. "A dreadful murder. Three people were killed. The police investigated, but the killer was never found. And the people who died…" He grinned. "…were fishermen. Now, fifteen years later, more deaths are occurring in the fishing industry. I think someone is carrying on where they finished off last time."

The idea gave me chills. "B-But that was fifteen years ago! Why wait all this time?"

"Who knows?" He drained his glass again. "I'm no detective. Just giving the facts, that's all."

"You don't think…" Masako frowned. "…You don't think there's going to be another murder, do you?"

Kenshou Imura laughed. "…I hope you haven't forgotten the boats that sunk!" Again, he lowered his voice, seeing his audience were captivated by his words. "…I'm afraid there already _has_ been a murder."

* * *

><p>That night, I didn't sleep particularly well. My thoughts were entirely on the sinking boat, the murder from fifteen years ago and, of course, the matter of my apparent ESP.<p>

If I had ESP, then the person with the mermaid tattoo…had they been the one to put the bomb on Yasuhara's boat? Had they been responsible for the sinking of all the other boats?

When I finally managed to drift to sleep, I slept a restless and dreamless sleep. If I really did have ESP, which was looking like a realer possibility by the minute, then it didn't seem to be acting that night.

The next morning, when I had completed my paper round, I walked down to the pier to see what was going on. A small speed boat had gone out to sea, and, seeing the police cars parked on the pier, I guessed that the police had gone out to find some more evidence.

"I thought I'd find you here." I turned to see Masako walking towards me.

I sighed. "…Yeah…"

"How have you been?"

"To be honest, I'm still pretty freaked out about the whole ESP thing." I admitted.

"That's understandable." Masako looked out to sea. "I wonder if they'll lock down the pier completely."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, someone tried to blow up and sink Yasuhara's boat. I wouldn't be surprised if the police wanted to stop anyone else from going out there, in case something happens to them."

"Oh…" I sighed. "Sinking ships, murder, bombs…so much for the 'quiet little Irish town' as a tourist destination, huh? 'Sea, sand and sun' and all that."

Masako nodded. "In all seriousness, this could have a very bad effect on the town's income. If tourism falls too much, we could be in trouble."

For a moment, we were both silent, staring out to sea as we thought about the dilemmas in our town. Finally, I spoke up.

"…The man I saw entering the boat had a tattoo." I told her. "A tattoo of a mermaid. If we can find someone with that tattoo, we can stop all this."

Masako sighed. "Mai, we would need more proof for that. Remember, it was in your dream. The police aren't going to believe that."

I looked at her. "There's one person who will."

* * *

><p>Sitting nervously with Masako at the police station in the waiting room, we waited to speak with Kazuya while he 'attended another business', according to the receptionist.<p>

"Hmmm…" It's a little dim in here." Masako remarked, looking up at the lights, one of which was broken.

"Yeah, they still haven't fixed that broken one. It was like that last time I came here."

"When have you been here?" Masako asked curiously.

"When Houshou forgot his badge." I smirked.

"Ah, yes. I remember that." Masako smiled, as if it was a fond memory.

"Oh, hey Masako, Mai." We looked over to see Yasuhara walking in and taking a seat opposite us. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask the same!" I grinned. "Haven't been doing drugs, have you?"

"No. Just here to talk to the officers about the whole bomb thing." He said it very casually. "I hear that there aren't many leads right now – they're still testing wreckage from the previous boats that sunk for signs of sabotage – so they're trying to be as thorough as they can."

"Oh…wait, how do you know that?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, dad has ties with the police."

"Your father? I thought he was a fisherman." Masako spoke up.

"Oh, well, back in the day, he used to be an officer around here."

"Oh…" As I put my hand into my pocket, my fingers brushed something sharp.

"Oh yeah." I pulled out the scale I had found the other day. "I was wondering, what fish does this belong to?"

I passed over the scale to Yasuhara, who adjusted his glasses jokingly, pretending to look professional.

"Let me see…" He peered at it. "…Huh. That's weird."

"What is it?" Masako asked, intrigued.

"It's just…well, I could be wrong here, but I do know my fish pretty well…this looks like it comes from a Blue Marlin."

"A…Blue Marlin?" I waited for him to elaborate.

"Yeah. They're these huge fish, and they're really fast. They look a little like a sailfish or a swordfish."

A vague image formed in my mind. "Oh. I didn't think you found those around here."

"Well, you don't." Yasuhara told me bluntly. "That's the Irish sea out there."

"Really? I did not know that." I said sarcastically.

"My point is, they live in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific ocean. The climate around here is pretty cold, to say the least. Where did you find this?" He asked, passing it back to me.

"Just on the pier. That's pretty weird…"

At that moment, the door opened, and Madoka Mori came walking in.

"Dear me…" She muttered crossly to herself. "There's no need to be so tight-lipped…"

I waved at her. "Hi! What're you doing here, Ms Mori?"

She sighed. "I was talking to that young man, trying to get some info on what's going on around here, but he wasn't willing to divulge any information."

I glanced at Masako. That was probably Kazuya.

* * *

><p>Soon, we found ourselves at the office that my brother and Kazuya shared. Houshou's desk was empty, but Kazuya was typing away with a frustrated look on his face.<p>

"Um…hi." I waved nervously, and he looked up.

"Oh, hello." He did not stop typing. "Can I help you?"

Masako and I glance at each other. "…We want to talk."

"Please, take a seat."

Nervously, we sat down opposite him.

"…Well…" I took a breath. "…I have…I have ESP, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, you do."

"Well, I know I can't exactly say this to any other officer, but…I could help, couldn't I? Help with the case. I helped find that bomb, right?"

"…So, you want to assist me in tracking down whoever placed that bomb on the ship?"

"Yeah! We can both help." I gestured to Masako. "I mean, she can see ghosts and stuff –"

"Wait." Kazuya interrupted, staring at Masako in surprise. "You're a _medium_?"

Masako nodded nonchalantly, but I couldn't help but notice the small smile on her face.

"So, you see? We can help! Just…we can't really help the other officers here because they won't believe us…"

Kazuya thought about it for a while, his brow harrowed as he muttered softly to himself, deep in thought. Finally, he finished soliloquising, and nodded.

"I agree it would be beneficial to have you two helping me. But what do you want out of it?"

"Huh?"

"Most people don't offer help without an ulterior motive."

I felt somewhat angry at this. "W-Wha…We just want to solve this case before anyone else is killed, jackass! Do you really think we'd be asking for money when people are dying?!"

At my furious outburst, Kazuya was quiet for a moment.

"…I see. I apologise." He finally spoke up. "That was insensitive of me."

Taking a breath, I nodded. "…I'm sorry for shouting."

Masako was looking between us with an amused expression on her face. "…Now. Back to the matter of these sinking boats."

"Oh, yeah." I thought back to my dream. "In my dream, I saw someone with a mermaid tattoo getting on the ship."

"A mermaid tattoo? I suppose you don't know anyone here with a mermaid tattoo, do you?"

I shook my head, disappointed. "No…though we heard something interesting yesterday at SPR."

"I'm sorry, SPR?" Kazuya asked, looking puzzled.

"Seagull's Point Restaurant. It's just easier to say SPR. Less wordy, you know?" I explained.

Kazuya frowned. "Hm. I see. It makes it sound like a police agency though, doesn't it? Or some kind of research group."

"A research group? Who would have a research group called SPR?" I remarked.

"Anyway," Masako interrupted our digression, "we heard something about a murder that occurred here fifteen years ago. Three people died, apparently. You don't happen to have any information about that, do you?"

"No. That's strange." Kazuya frowned. "I was looking through the case files stored here, and I didn't see any information of a spree killing."

"Oh. Maybe the archives here don't go back that far?" I wondered.

"No, there are case files dating back further than that." Kazuya looked thoughtful. "Interesting…Who told you about this murder?"

"Uh…some old guy at SPR."

"Kenshou Imura." Masako explained. "He's a crafter, apparently."

"I see. I would like to speak to Mr Imura. I think it would be useful to find out more about this fifteen year old murder."

"Do you think it could be important?" I asked.

Kazuya frowned thoughtfully. "…What do you think?"

"Eh?!"

"You're the one with ESP. What do you think?"

"U-Um…" Feeling pressured now, I fell quiet, thinking hard about it. A murder fifteen years ago…three fishermen were killed…yet there was no record of it in the local station…maybe that old man was mistaken. Maybe there was no murder. But…

"…Yes." I just couldn't shake the feeling that this murder had some kind of link to the incidents that had happened recently. "…I think it's important."

"I see. Well, shall we find this Mr Imura?"

"Yeah." The sooner we found out about this murder from fifteen years ago, the better.


	6. Chapter 6: The Weather Forecast

**(A/N): This chapter was annoying to write.**

**The craft shop that Imura works in is actually a real shop, and the items described were there when I went. Incidentally, I actually bought the Muiredach's High Cross earrings. They're very nice.**

**I hate it in Ghost Hunt when they randomly have shouting matches in random places. It irritates me.**

**If anyone here reads 'The Artefact', and is wondering why I'm not updating, I will be updating soon, I promise.**

**If you're enjoying this story, I would really like it if you'd review. Wink wink.**

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"So, you don't happen to know where he lives, do you?"<p>

We had gone to SPR, in search of the restaurant's most regular customer. Again, it was pretty empty, with only a few regulars seeking shelter from the outside rain, which had started with no warning like usual.

Ayako, standing behind the bar, sighed. "Why? You're not going to visit him, are you?"

"We just want to ask him a few questions about something he mentioned last night." Kazuya explained. He had invited me along in case any of the information caused me to have a 'vision'. It was still so surreal to me, it made me a bit nervous, so I had insisted that Masako come with us.

"About that murder?" Ayako put down the glass she had been drying. "I wouldn't trust too much of what Mr Imura says, you know. He tends to exaggerate a lot."

"Still, we'd like to hear what he has to say." Kazuya insisted.

"Ok…well, I'll take you there. I need to do some grocery shopping anyway, so I might as well show you the way."

Kazuya began to protest. "I don't think we really have time for –"

I nudged him hard in the ribs. "Don't anger her. It's scary." I hissed.

Thankfully, he fell quiet, as Ayako called for one of the waiters on call to cover for her.

"Is she really that scary?" Kazuya muttered to me as she quickly slipped off her apron.

"Haven't you seen the way she can turf out men twice her size?" I whispered back.

"Well, then, shall we go?" Ayako called to us cheerfully, halfway out the door and oblivious to the hushed conversation we were having.

* * *

><p>Outside, it was still pouring down with rain, and the puddles on the ground were already deep and wide. The scent of rain mixed in with salt from the ocean was unusual, but refreshing.<p>

"Ugh. Stupid rain." Standing at the entrance for the Seagull's Point Restaurant, Ayako pulled out her umbrella. "It's terrible for my hair."

Kazuya sighed. "I hardly think that your hair –"

"Do you have a _death wish_ or something?!" I hissed, nudging him hard again.

"Hm? Sorry?" Ayako glanced over.

"Nothing!" I waved my hands nervously. "Nothing. Everything's fine. Now, um…shall we go?"

"Yeah. Actually, I want to stop off at Madoka's shop, if you don't mind."

Kazuya looked as if he did mind, very much, but he didn't say so. Thus, we ended up standing outside Madoka's shop in the pouring rain while Ayako bought some groceries.

Standing under his umbrella, Kazuya sighed heavily.

"This is ridiculous." He muttered. "I should be able to make suggestions or criticize people without fear of being injured. Now where are we? Stuck outside a corner shop in the rain!"

"Well, there's a difference between making a suggestion and being rude." I told him. "Ayako doesn't like the latter."

"Still, we shouldn't have to be waiting like this!" He insisted. "We should have just asked for directions!"

"She knows Mr Imura better than we do, so she'll probably get the info we need out of him easier than we would." I retaliated. "Plus, she's got to be efficient every time she goes out. She has to spend loads of time working at SPR, so she needs to be efficient every time she goes out."

"She's right, you know." Masako agreed. "She works full time there, you know that."

Kazuya sighed again, this time in defeat rather than irritation.

"…I suppose so."

At that moment, the door opened. We turned, expecting Ayako.

"Uh-oh." I muttered under my breath.

"Shibuya?" It was my brother, sounding outraged. "What are you doing?! I've been trying to ring you for the past hour! I told you to meet me at the forensics lab! Why didn't you show up?!"

"I was busy." Kazuya replied nonchalantly.

Houshou noticed me and Masako, and his anger increased. "What, hanging around with these two? That's my _sister_, you know!"

I rolled my eyes at my brother's over-protective nature.

"They're helping me." Kazuya told him simply.

"What? Wait, you go to two high school students for help, and not me? _Your partner_?!"

"I didn't know where you were."

"I was at the lab, waiting for _you_!"

I groaned quietly to Masako.

"This is grand, isn't it?"

"I really wish they wouldn't cause a scene." Masako sighed.

"Tell me about it."

"…and after I was shouted at, I was called here to talk to some 'journalist' who is too nosy for her own good! For _half an hour_!" I assumed he was talking about Madoka Mori, and I hoped she hadn't heard his rather unflattering description of her.

"You mean Ms Mori? I've already spoken to her."

"Wait…are you sure? She said she hadn't been able to speak to an officer yet…"

"I did talk to her. She lied, clearly."

Houshou groaned. "Right. We are going back right now. I need to tell you something."

"Well, we're actually in the middle of something." Kazuya protested.

"I'm coming with you, then! I'm not just going to let you wander off by yourself, you know!"

Kazuya glared at him. "…Fine."

"Now." Houshou let out a breath. "What is this all about?"

"We're looking for a man called Kenshou Imura. He knew some information about a case fifteen years ago where three fishermen were killed."

Houshou looked a little sceptical. "Why are you so interested about it? Do you think it really could have some relation to our current case?"

"Well, I was right about the sinking fishing boats, wasn't I? I said that it was far too coincidental for four boats to sink within two weeks, and I was right, so why do you doubt me now?"

Houshou sighed. "…Well, I guess you were right about that…the lab looked over the various pieces of wreckage we recovered, and they think that all the boats that sunk were caused by a bomb. They found some traces of explosives on the debris. Someone really has been targeting the fishing industry."

Kazuya smiled smugly. "Didn't I say?"

"Hey, don't act so cocky." Houshou growled. "People don't like cockiness."

At that moment, the door opened, and this time Ayako really did come out.

"…Oh." She looked at the scene with Houshou and Kazuya glaring at each other hostilely. "Well, I'm done. Shall we go?"

Neither of them replied, so I spoke up. "Yeah, sure!"

As we walked, Ayako leant over to me.

"What's with those two?" She asked. They weren't glaring at each other anymore, but the air was still tense with animosity.

"I don't know, they're just drama queens who are being stupid and proud, you know?" I glanced back at them. "They just shout at each other a lot and fail to sort out their differences, so shout at each other even more."

Ayako scoffed. "That's stupid."

"I think they like shouting at each other." Masako added. "They seem to enjoy the drama."

"Yeah…" To be honest, it was a little embarrassing, those two shouting at each other in the streets. If they had some common sense, they could have at least waited until they were somewhere private. Madoka had probably heard the whole thing, too. I could almost imagine tomorrow's paper: 'Case Halts to a Standstill as Police Spend Time Quarrelling instead of Working.'

* * *

><p>Eventually, Ayako led us to a small shop on the edge of the town, up a hill that was tricky to walk on because of the wet tarmac surface. In my flat shoes that had no grip whatsoever, I slipped several times on the way up, even though the hill wasn't particularly large at all. By the end, I just grabbed onto Houshou's arm for support.<p>

"This is it." When we finally got to the top, Ayako stepped inside the shop.

"Hi, Mr Imura." She called. "I've brought some people who want to talk to you."

Curiously, I glanced around the shop. It was filled with what must have been home-made produce, from scarves to potter and notebooks to necklaces.

"Wow." I looked at a shelf that was filled with jewellery made out of cutlery. "This is all homemade?"

"Aye. Take your time." I looked behind me to see Kenshou Imura sitting at his desk, writing out prices. "Feel free to have a look."

"Actually," Kazuya walked over to him, "I would like to ask you some –"

"Do you like this?" Kenshou Imura passed him a scarf. "Made from Irish Texel wool." It'll warm you up nicely in winter, it will."

"Uh…no thank you." Kazuya put it down. "Now, could I –"

"Or how about this?" Imura held up a pair of small earrings, shaped like Muiredach's High Cross. "A nice present, eh? Hand-crafted, you know."

"I'm not here to browse, I'm here –"

"What about you, eh?" He looked at my brother, who in turn looked away, looked back, then pointed at himself nervously.

"Me? Sorry, what?"

"How about a lovely present for your girlfriend?" He held up a black string necklace with a small jar on the end; it had a cork stopper, and small hearts inside.

"Uh, no, I'm sorry, I really –"

"Oh, are you one of _those_ types, eh? Ayako, what do the young'uns call it?"

"Batting for the other team." She informed him.

"Aye, that's the one."

Houshou looked as if he didn't have the energy to put up with this. "I'm not in a relationship. I'm sorry, but I'm not here to –"

"How about this?" He went about picking up another ware, and Kazuya and Houshou looked as if they were either going to scream or cry.

"Ok, ok. That's enough." Ayako stepped in. "You've had your fun. Now, we want to ask some questions, if that's alright with you?"

Miraculously, Kenshou Imura didn't interrupt. Instead, he laughed loudly, revealing his gums that were short of a fair few teeth.

"Aye, it's grand. Now, what do you want to ask?"

Kazuya managed to speak, despite his irritation. "I was told that you spoke of an incident that happened fifteen years ago. A murder."

"That I did."

"Could you tell me more about it?"

Imura calmly started reading through some receipts. "…It happened on the 20th October..." He broke off dramatically.

Kazuya waited in anticipation. "…Well?"

Imura glanced at him blankly. "Well, what?"

"What happened?"

"Three people were murdered."

"I knew that. Do you know anything else?"

"Ach, no." Imura frowned at Kazuya. "Why would _I_ know? I'm just a humble crafter."

Kazuya didn't reply. I think he was restraining himself from killing Imura.

"Now, someone who _would_ know…" Imura went on, "You know that light house keeper?"

My heart sank as Kazuya replied, "Do you mean Mr Lin?"

"Aye, that's the one. Now, he was friends with some of those fishermen who were killed. Word has it, he's the only one here who knows the full details."

Kazuya didn't reply again. He looked too angry to say a word.

"Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Masako stepped forwards rather sheepishly, aware of Kazuya's foul mood.

"…I'd like to buy these earrings, please."

* * *

><p>The rain had not stopped when we stepped outside, and neither had Kazuya's annoyance.<p>

"What a waste of time."

"Hey." Houshou was frowning. "You never told me. Why are you two here?" He looked to me and Masako.

There was a moment of silence as we stared at each other in alarm, hastily trying to think of an excuse; we couldn't exactly say it was because I had ESP.

"Um…you know, I have a more important question right now." I said quickly. "How are we going to talk to Lin? I don't want to. He's scary."

"Hm. That is a question." Kazuya agreed swiftly, taking advantage of the conversation change. "I don't even know where he lives."

I gave him a look and pointed to the very obvious light house that stood a little way out to sea.

"Ah, yes. Good point. Well, how about you do it, Ayako?"

Ayako flicked her hair behind her shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry, I have to go back to SPR." She began to walk away, waving cheerily at us. "Have fun talking to the antisocial light house owner!"

"Damn." Houshou scratched his head. "I don't really wanna talk to him. He kept on giving me the evils when I went to SPR a few nights ago."

"What do we do, then?" Masako asked.

We considered it for a few moments, the only sound being the rain pounding on the tarmac.

"Oh, I know!" I suddenly realised. "Why don't we ask John? Those two are friends."

"Really?" Kazuya sounded surprised. "You mean that Australian waiter? They don't look like they'd be friends."

"I know, right?"

"Well, how about I text him?" Houshou got out his phone.

"Ooooh." I smiled snidely. "You have his number! How romantic!"

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Eventually, we found John hiding under a bus stop, looking anxiously up into the black sky as the rain continued. Every now and again, he would glance nervously at his phone, then the sea, before staring at the sky again.<p>

"Hey." When Houshou called over, he jumped a little. "What's wrong?"

"Oh!" John stood up quickly, knocking over his bag in his haste. Hastily, he picked it up, abashed. "Houshou! Hi! I-I was caught in the rain without an umbrella. I'm still not used to this weather. It rains without warning." This was very true. In Ireland, it was prone to raining very quickly, even on a sunny day.

"Hello, John." Kazuya interrupted their conversation.

"Oh, so you're Kazuya Shibuya? Nice to meet you." John held out his hand. Kazuya shook it curtly, his face solemn and professional.

"Likewise. Now, I have a favour to ask you." His tone reminded me of a business man, or a banker.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

We all paused, and looked at each other sheepishly. How were we going to say this without sounding like wimps?

"Well, we'd like to speak with your friend, Lin. The light house keeper." Kazuya attempted. "But we don't know where he lives."

Puzzled, John slowly pointed to the light house by the pier.

"Ah, I see." Kazuya scowled, embarrassed at making the same mistake twice. "Of course."

"Ok." I decided I might as well tell the truth. "…We need to talk to Lin, but…frankly, we're a bit worried. It seems Lin doesn't like talking to people. So…we were wondering if you would help us, since you two are friends."

"Oh, I see." John didn't look scornful, so it seemed our worries had been pointless. "I'll help you. I'm sure he'll be happy to talk to you, though."

Somehow, I doubted it. "Thanks. We really owe you one."

John smiled, and peered out at the rain. "Well, I don't suppose you have an umbrella I could borrow, do you?"

Houshou offered his. "Here, share with me."

I watched them in shock as we began to walk, with John leading the way to the pier, which seemed to be the access point for the light house.

"What is it?" Masako whispered to me, noticing my expression.

"…How?" I asked. "How is this happening?"

Masako glanced at my brother and John, walking together under the umbrella together.

"I don't understand."

"That!" I hissed, pointing at them. "It's the most clichéd, overused plot device I've ever seen! I've seen it happen in TV shows, in films, in fanfic and stuff, but it's not meant to happen in _real life_! It's just too…clichéd!" I reused the word to emphasise my point.

Masako considered this. "I suppose it does seem something out of a high school romance anime, but I still don't see what the problem is."

Kazuya decided to join in the conversation, while the other two were completely oblivious of the discussion behind them "Do you have something against romance between two people of the same gender?"

"No, no, of course not! That's not the problem. The problem is, they met when they crashed into each other and John dropped his shopping. Now, they're sharing an umbrella. It's like they're in some kind of romance fanfic written by a teenager with nothing better to do with her life!"

"I think it's quite cute." Masako admitted. "Are you jealous?"

I scoffed. "No. But I'm telling you, next minute they'll be running into each other at a café, or one will fall asleep at the other one's place, or they'll reach for the TV remote at the same time and accidentally hold hands –"

"And there will be a big argument at some point," Masako joined in excitedly, "and then one of them will try to leave, and the other will chase after them dramatically because neither of them want to be apart,"

"Exactly." I concluded. "I'm telling you, that's what's going to happen."

Kazuya rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt that. This is reality, not a romance story."

"Wanna bet?"

"Ok. 5 euro for each event you just described.

"10."

"Deal." We shook hands on it.

Eventually, we reached the pier, which wasn't too far away from the light house. However, we still needed to use a boat to get across; in the end, we took a small boat across, which John informed us belonged to Lin. The journey was extremely unpleasant, what with the rain and the rough water, though when we reached the door of the light house, I wanted nothing more than to get onto that boat again and sail away from the tower.

"What exactly do you need to ask him?" John asked curiously as he fumbled at the key hole.

Houshou coughed nervously, before answering with an attempted professional tone, "We want to talk to him about a case."

"Oh, about the boats sinking?"

Houshou frowned. "…How did you know?" I was pretty sure there was some kind of rule about not divulging information to civilians, but no one seemed to care.

"Well, there are only two cases going on right now: that graffitist and the sinking boats. I took a guess."

There was truth to that – nothing ever really happened here, so it probably hadn't been hard to guess.

At last, he managed to get the door open. "Follow me." He beckoned us in. I took one last look outside, trying to shake the feeling that we were walking into the house of a serial killer or something, and followed him inside.

It was a long walk to the top, and soon, I was completely out of breath.

"Wow." I panted. "I am really unfit."

"I'm not unfit, and I'm exhausted." Houshou called back to me.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." John reassured us, although if anything, I found this discomforting. "It's just a little further." Unlike the rest of us, he wasn't panting at all. He must have walked up these stairs a lot to be used to the effort.

Eventually, we reached the top, and I was ready to collapse on the floor. Without hesitation, John knocked on the door.

"Lin, it's me." He called. No one answered, but that didn't seem to affect him; he opened the door anyway.

From the doorway, I peered into the room, which was large and spacious, but also quite bare. Around the edges of the room, I could see a cluster of computers with various monitors, screens, dials and buttons that looked far too complicated to use. The rest of the room looked like a kitchen, with a small table, a fridge and other various cooking utensils. There was no real heating, so I found myself shifting from foot to foot to try and keep warm.

A man was sitting, facing the computers and not bothering to look behind him. From his height alone, I knew immediately who it was – Lin Koujou.

"Hi, Lin!" John called cheerily, walking into the room with ease. The mountain of a man turned to look. At first, his face was neutral, but when he saw us, it hardened.

"…Who's there?" He asked darkly.

"These are my friends." John explained, then looked at us, puzzled. "…You can come in, you know."

None of us had been brave enough to actually enter the room and had instead been standing in the doorway. Sheepishly, we shuffled inside.

"This is Mai and Masako." John introduced us. "We work together at SPR." Neither of us said anything, and Lin did not offer a greeting.

"And this is Houshou and Kazuya. They work with the police."

He still didn't say anything, so Houshou coughed and walked forwards.

"I'm here to ask a few questions about an incident that happened 15 years ago."

Lin scowled, and glanced over at John, who nodded encouragingly.

"…Why do you want to know?" It was probably the longest sentence I had heard him say.

Houshou hesitated. I wondered if he was reluctant to tell Lin – a civilian, and a particularly scary one at that – about the recent lead.

"…It's about the person who's been trying to blow up those boats, isn't it?" Lin guessed.

My brother avoided the question. "I would appreciate it if you would cooperate."

Lin grunted, as if he had proved a point, and stood up, walking over to a fridge.

"Sit down." He instructed gruffly, taking out a beer.

John sighed. "I don't think you should be drinking while you're working, Lin."

We stared at him in horror. How would Lin, who I wouldn't have been surprised if he turned out to be a serial killer, react to such blatant criticism?

"…I'm not drinking much." Oh. Somehow, I wasn't sure if I felt relieved or a little disappointed by the anti-climax. "Could you feed my cats for me?" Strangely, his voice was very soft when he spoke to John, like a gentle pattering of rain, yet when he spoke to us, it was as rough as the sea against the rocks.

"Now." He sat down, facing Kazuya and Houshou, who looked extremely nervous. "You wanted to know about the murders 15 years ago?"

"Yes." Houshou took out a pen and paper. "We were informed you knew about it."

I felt a little awkward standing by the edge, and I'm sure Masako felt the same; I didn't want to feel like I was eavesdropping in on the conversation, but John had disappeared somewhere, and I didn't want to leave without an excuse.

"Hey." Masako tugged my sleeve and leant over quietly. "You should listen to this. It could be of importance."

"…It was in October. On 20th , in the morning, a fisherman by the name of Akefumi Yoshimi was found dead in his house. Drowned in his own sink. Four days later, his brother was found hanging from the rafters of his house. Hanging from a noose." He gestured to his neck, and I shuddered. "Finally, four days after that, the police found their uncle lying in his bed, dead. Stabbed. Right through the heart."

Masako tapped my shoulder urgently. "Mai. Four days apart."

"Hm?" I frowned in puzzlement.

"That's the same as the boat sinkings – four days apart!"

My eyes widened. "No way!" If that was the case, there was no way these two cases weren't related.

"Does anyone know why these fishermen were murdered?" Kazuya asked.

Lin shrugged noncommittally. "No. The police investigated, but the culprit was never found. The murderer didn't strike again, and the case went cold. I tried to investigate the incident myself, but all the records are gone."

"Gone? What do you mean?" Kazuya asked.

"They're gone. There are no traces of the incident. No police report, no new article. Nothing. Now," He stood up. "I've told you what I know. I have to work."

Without another word, he walked back over to his chair facing the computers, sat down, and began to work. Sighing, Houshou stood up, putting away his notebook.

"Thank you for your time." He said, unenthusiastically. "We'll leave now."

"Oh, you're leaving?" John entered the room again, this time with a tortoiseshell cat purring loudly in his arms, and two more mewing loudly at his feet, rubbing against his legs.

Kazuya looked like he was going to protest, but Houshou spoke before he could.

"Yes. Thank you for taking us here. Would you mind helping us to get back?"

* * *

><p>The rain had finally stopped outside, but the clouds were still thick and dark. Heat lingered over us heavily, and the ocean waves rolled back and forth hungrily. The humid weather was unpleasant, and the sea itself seemed to recoil and anger at the stale air. All the seabirds had flown inland, seeking shelter from what would undoubtedly be another storm, and even from the pier, it was clear that tonight, the ocean would be restless.<p>

"We need to keep investigating this." Kazuya announced to Houshou, who sighed.

"…I'm sorry, Shibuya, but I don't see a relation between these two cases."

"What are you talking about? Both serial killings had a four day gap between each killing, and both involved the murders of fishermen. What more do you want?"

"Well, for one, why was there a fifteen year gap?" Houshou pointed out. "Why did our killer, if they are the one responsible for the murder fifteen years ago, wait all this time before striking again? Why attack now, today? No one here is even related to the Yoshimi family. Why attack Yasuhara's family?"

Kazuya fell into angry silence. He couldn't answer the question.

"…Exactly. Now, we have other work to be doing, not wasting our time on this." He turned, and began walking off the pier, back to the centre of town. "Come on. We need to get back to the station."

Kazuya hesitated before following reluctantly, casting one last glance back at the two of us. As we watched them go, Masako turned to me.

"What do you think?" She asked. "Your brother has a convincing argument."

I contemplated it for a minute. It was true that Houshou had some valid points – if the murderer from fifteen years ago was the same person who put the bombs in the boats, why would they wait all this time? An entire fifteen years? And why did they decide to attack these past two weeks? Why try and sink Yasuhara's boat?

Still, there were some clear links, too, like the four day gaps between each murder, or the fact the fishing industry had been targeted. Surely that wasn't a coincidence.

I bit my lip. There was something I just couldn't shake about the murders in the Yoshimi family. Not dissimilar to the clouds rolling over the town and out to the horizons, preparing for yet another lashing of rain, I had a strong feeling of a danger hanging above our heads. The bombs in the fishing boats was a mere drizzle of rain; someone was getting ready to unleash real chaos, and let loose a storm on this village that would leave carnage in its wake, picking up from where they left fifteen years ago.

I let out a breath. "…My brother's wrong. I don't know why, but whoever killed those fishermen wasn't finished fifteen years ago. And I don't know why they've taken this long, but they're going to start again. I can feel it."

"Wait. You think there's going to be another murder?"

I nodded gravely. "Yeah. The boat murders were just a taster." I turned to her solemnly.

"What's coming is going to be much, much worse."


	7. Chapter 7: Arrival of the Storm

**(A/N): Sorry this was late; my laptop broke and had to be fixed, so even though I had written the chapter, I couldn't actually upload it.**

**By the way, Michiru and Keiko are Mai's friends from school (they appear in the first case arc and briefly in the anime version of Ghost Stories in the Park) and Noriko is 'Aunt Nori' from the Doll's House arc. Sekauchi is a character from the Forbidden Pastime arc, and Chiaki is a character from the After School Hexer arc. Finally, Kenji is a character from Silent Christmas. Everyone probably knows this, but just in case you forgot the names of the characters (I sometimes do).**

**You know what would be really nice? If you left a nice review. That would make me happy.**

**I'm not very good at throwing. My aim is alright, but I can't throw very far.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter, and thanks for reading!**

* * *

><p>It was a busy night at SPR, and I was struggling to spot Kazuya among the crowds of tourists.<p>

"Any luck?" I asked Masako, who shook her head sadly.

"Maybe you can find him at the police force?" She suggested.

"No. If my brother's there, he won't want us talking, and he won't be happy if he hears Kazuya agree to take up the investigation again." This was the main reasons for my frustrated search for Kazuya: I needed to tell him to continue investigating the Yoshimi murders fifteen years ago. I had no evidence, just my instinct, and since he knew about my ESP, he would be the only one to believe me. However, I had reached the middle of my shift, and he was still nowhere to be seen. Where was he? I didn't want to have to contact him at the police station; my brother would probably be there, and I didn't want him nosing in on our conversation, especially since he was so sceptical about the link between the murders.

"Hey." I was snapped out of my thoughts by Yasuhara, who was tapping the table with his fingers impatiently. "You ok there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm grand." I shook my head. "What can I get you?"

"Uh, I told you my order about three times." Yasuhara told me tiredly. "And I thought you'd be able to guess."

I smirked. "Oh, yeah. You really like _pear_ cider, don't you?"

He didn't look amused. "I hate pears."

"Um, I know that. That's why I said it. I was joking."

He sighed, sounding a little exasperated. "…I'm sorry. I'm just a little exhausted. My father is pissed because the police won't let him use the boat while they search for evidence, and he's been a pain in the ass all day because of it. I'm just a little…"

I understood. "Right. Sorry. I'm kind of…out of it, too."

He nodded, and smiled. "That's ok. Now," he gestured to my notepad, "I'd like an apple cider, please."

I tucked the notepad under my arm, not bothering to write down the order, and did a mock salute. "One apple cider, coming right up!"

Hurrying to the bar to pour out his order, I noticed Ayako was just returning from the nightly throwing out of the drunken man, dusting off her hands absent-mindedly.

A thought occurred to me, something John had told me. "Hey, Ayako."

"Hm?"

"You know that young officer? Kazuya Shibuya?"

She raised an eye brow. "The handsome British one with the foul mood?"

That wasn't an inaccurate description. "That's the one. He rents out a room here like John does, doesn't he?"

"He does. Why d'you ask?"

"There was something I needed to tell him, but he's not here."

"I'm not telling you his room number, if that's what you want." Ayako informed me briskly. "Sorry, but it's against my policy. Anyway," she looked past me and pointed to the front door, "he's here now."

Sure enough, Kazuya trudged into the restaurant, looking irate and fed up.

"Oh, Kazuya!" I called over, not caring for the people who stared at me. "Kazuya!"

He glanced at me briefly, but did not stop. Instead, he went straight to the inn section of the restaurant.

"Ouch." Ayako examined her chipped nails briefly before continuing to work. "That was a harsh rejection."

I scowled at her, and grabbed the apple cider, bringing it over to Yasuhara, who also had a smirk on his face.

"What was all that about?" He asked teasingly.

"Nothing." I muttered. "Hey, how can I find out what room he's in? I know Ayako won't tell me; she has that privacy policy."

"Hm…" Yasuhara thought carefully. "John might know. He rents a room here, too."

I looked quickly around – no one was waiting to be served, either having gotten their food or already being served by someone else – so I asked curiously,

"What's the deal with John? I mean, why did he come here? And why is he friends with the scary lighthouse keeper?"

Yasuhara frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I think it was…a year ago, actually, that I first saw him around here. I'm not sure where he was staying, but I would usually see him busking on the street."

"Busking?"

"Yeah. He'd sing. He has a pretty nice voice, and he didn't do too badly, especially in tourist season. Eventually, he got a job here. I have no idea why he's friends with Lin, or even why he came here in the first place."

I wondered what made him move all the way over from Australia to Ireland. "Hmm…well, anyway, I'll ask him about Kazuya's room number, then. I'm sure he'll tell me."

* * *

><p>Nervously, I stood outside Seagull's Point Restaurant, tossing a pebble back and forth between my hands. The night was cold, and the wind tearing through the trees was shrill and eerie. The storm was in its height, and not a single warmth breath of life stirred outside the inn; everyone was inside, hiding away from the cold and the wet. It would be unwise to go outside in this weather – which was, incidentally, what I was doing.<p>

John had told me the number of Kazuya's room, and now my shift was over, I couldn't get access to the rest of the inn. It was part of Ayako's policy again – only people who had booked a room and the cleaners could get into the inn. Instead, I was force to stand outside the window, shivering from the cold.

Carefully, I raised the pebble in my hands, and took aim. Kazuya's room was on the top floor, so I'd have to put a lot of force into my throw. My hands were so numb, I could barely feel them. With all my might, I threw forwards the stone.

It barely raised a metre off the ground before it fell to the floor.

"Crap." I hissed. I was not very good at throwing. Sighing in frustration, I decided to go with a less dramatic method.

"Kazuya!" I called up. "Kazuya, come here!"

After a moment or so of waiting, the window opened. Kazuya looked down, disgruntled.

"What are you doing?" He asked moodily. "Do you want to wake everyone up?"

"Kazuya, you have to continue investigating the Yoshimi murders!" I called up, ignoring his complaints.

He scowled. "No, I don't. I was wrong. It has nothing to do with the current case."

"It does! I can feel it!"

He hesitated, and leant on the window frame, looking down at me. "…You feel it?" He sounded very interested all of a sudden.

"Yeah. I have a really bad feeling about the bombs put in the boats, and I'm sure these incidents are related to the Yoshimi murders. I know it. I just…" I looked down at my feet, nudging the fallen pebble with my toes. "…you're the only person I can tell. You're the only one who will believe in my ESP. And I don't want anyone to get hurt."

There was a long pause as Kazuya contemplated this, while the wind continued screeching and howling in my ear, robbing me of my warmth.

"…How about this." Finally, Kazuya spoke up, having to raise his voice over the sound of the gale. "Right now, I can't just start investigating when I have other tasks I need to be doing, especially not with your brother watching me like a hawk. I'm going to need a bit more than a gut feeling on this one. But, if you have a dream, let's say, that means I can definitely find a link to the Yoshimi murders and the current situation, I'll investigate. What do you think?"

I rubbed my hands together as I considered the suggestion. On the one hand, I really wanted to get this case finished, to find out who the killer was before it escalated into something much darker. But…it was a lot to ask for just based on a gut feeling. And if I was wrong – it wasn't very long ago that I didn't even believe I had ESP – then I could cause a lot of problems.

"…Alright." I agreed. "If I have a dream tonight, I'll come see you at the police station tomorrow."

"That sounds good." He smiled. I realised suddenly that a warm smile on his lips was something I hadn't seen very often. It was a shame; a smile on his face looked much better than the scowl he always wore.

"I look forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Y-Yeah, me too."

With that, Kazuya closed the window, leaving me in the cold wind with only the thought of his smile to warm me up.

* * *

><p>The air is suddenly a lot stiller.<p>

I look around myself. A dark room filled with unpacked boxes, coated in dust, lies before me. Various items have been strewn across the floor, some of them broken and trampled. A glass vase has been entirely smashed – the shards are lined with blood – and a book had been torn up and ripped.

I realise that there is someone in the room with me. The person is sitting at a table, one sleeve rolled up as they wind bandages round and around their hand. In the dim lights, I can see a calloused hand, a tanned arm, and a tattoo – a mermaid brushing her long, red hair.

The person stops bandaging their hand, and begins to leaf through a catalogue book of some kind, scouring the pages intently. Occasionally, they scribble something down ferociously, before diving back into the pages.

Finally, the person seems satisfied. They close the catalogue, and pick up something I did not notice before – a knife. Carefully twisting it back and forth, so that the light reflects on the blade, they chuckle to themselves, as if playing with a toy. Then they slam it down into the catalogue, skewing the blade through the pages.

* * *

><p>I bolted upright in bed, panicked. A feeling of anxiety had gripped me suddenly. It was that dream…the person with that mermaid tattoo was going to do something very bad, I could tell. I had to tell Kazuya as soon as I could.<p>

Hastily, I pulled on my clothes, gave my stubborn hair two strokes from my brush, and scrambled down the stairs, hitting my head as I did so.

"Crap!" I hissed, jumping from the second last step and dashing around the kitchen. Today, the kitchen was empty; I didn't have a paper round today, so I'd slept in, and Houshou had already gone to work. As I hurried around the kitchen, half way between urgency and grogginess, grabbing various pieces of fruit and stuffing them into my mouth, my eye fell on something lying on the counter – my brother's police badge.

"Man, again?!" I swiped it up. It looked like I was going to have to return this, too, while I was over at the station.

After a hazardous attempt of putting my shoes on while standing up, I grabbed the keys and left the house, locking the door behind me. It was eleven o'clock, and the day was much fresher and cooler than the previous night. All traces of the storm were gone, replacing the humid, overcast skies with a clearer, brighter blue. Only the wet ground and large puddles showed evidence of the raging weather that kept me company outside my window as I slept. The air was tangy with salt, and I breathed in the scent, allowing it to wake me up like a slap of fresh water. Once more, the seagulls were wheeling over the buildings, circling smoothly in ways that made them look as if they were both wandering aimlessly and gliding with purpose.

Fastening my helmet, I clambered onto my bike, pushing off and skidding precariously down the road with the all the grace of an inexperienced fledgling. Trying to get rid of the anxious feelings I'd had ever since waking up, I pedalled hard, the water spraying from the road into my face and my hair. It was much busier today than yesterday, and I had to be careful not to run into any cars.

On my way to the station, I stopped by Madoka's corner shop to grab some food, realising that the snatches of fruit I had taken would not be enough to sustain my energy until lunch. The shop was quite full today – or rather, it was so small, only a maximum of five people could fit in any one time. Leaving my bike chained up by the front door, I waited until some of the people had left before entering.

"Oh, hi Kenji!" I called to the shop assistant. Kenji was a shy young boy who worked at Madoka's shop. Today, he was looking a little flustered at the number of people who had been in the shop; he was fine with serving locals, but he disliked it when there were too many tourists, who were loud and not used to being served by someone who couldn't talk.

Kenji smiled, and signed a greeting, while I browsed the shelves, eventually settling for a handful of cereal bars. I put them on the counter, while he typed in the prices.

My eye fell on the newspaper rack, and I picked one up, leafing through the pages, wondering if anything had happened since last night, or if the bomb incident had been reported yet. After a look, I found a miniature column on it, giving a brief overview on the suspected murders that had been disguised as storm wreckage. The main page was swamped with pointless stories of petty politicians and the weather. However, one article did catch my attention:

"'Case Halts to a Standstill as Police Spend Time Quarrelling instead of Working'?!" I read out. The article went on to describe the incompetence of the local police department and how they had failed to realise there were murders happening right under their noses.

"Written by…Madoka Mori." I sighed, and put down the newspaper. "I should've known." She had probably heard Houshou and Kazuya slandering her outside the shop, and written this in revenge. I could almost imagine the fiery look in her eyes as she returned the favour.

I passed the newspaper to Kenji. "Hey, could I have this, too?"

* * *

><p>"This is terrible…" Houshou groaned when I passed him the newspaper and he read the article. "The last thing we need…"<p>

The station was very busy today, with various fishermen lining up at the receptionist, shouting complaints at her. I felt sorry for her as she struggled to maintain a calm composure.

"Oh, Mai!" When she saw me, her face brightened, happy for an excuse to ignore the impatient fishermen. "Are you looking for your brother?"

"Yeah, kind of." That wasn't actually my initial goal, but I needed to find him anyway. "Do you know where he is, Noriko?"

"He's in the back." Noriko leant over the desk, shooing away the insistent complainers with one hand. "Be nice; today is going to be a long day for him."

When I found my brother, he was sitting in a chair while Kazuya dabbed some antiseptic on his face.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?!" I explained, dropping my shopping bag on the floor and hurrying over to him. "Are you hurt?!"

Houshou chuckled bitterly. "I'm alright. Really." It looked like someone had punched him in the jaw.

"What's with all those people at the office? Poor Noriko is being overwhelmed by them."

"They're angry with us." Kazuya answered me. "Yesterday, we put an order to ground all boats, considering someone's been blowing them up. But, for the fishermen, it's a big blow to their business. They're complaining, saying we're 'incompetent'." He stepped back, wiping his hands on his trousers. "That by the time we catch the murderer, they'll have all gone out of business."

"Yeah. They weren't very happy." Houshou touched his jaw experimentally, wincing. "Then some eejit picked a fight."

"Oh…ouch. You got punched, then?"

"Yeah, by that fisherman who was yelling at us about the graffiti on his boat." Houshou growled.

"Oh, Yasuhara's dad? Hideharu or something?"

"That's the one."

I felt a little sorry for Yasuhara. "Oh, yeah." I took out the newspaper, and opened it to the right page. "This might be why people are calling you 'incompetent'."

Houshou took it from me, and had only read the title when he cried out in outrage, "What?!...incompetent…there'll be more bloodshed for sure – a whole ocean's worth by the time they get their act together…fishing industry will be severely damaged – who the hell wrote this?!"

I pointed to the name, and he scowled.

"Madoka Mori…damnit…" As Houshou scoured over the newspaper, I grabbed Kazuya and pulled him to one side.

"Kazuya, I had a dream last night." I whispered to him.

His eyes widened. "About the Yoshimi murders?"

"No. But something bad is going to happen. I think the murderer, whoever they are, is going to strike again."

"They won't be able to. We grounded all the boats."

This should have reassured me, but it didn't. "What if he goes for a different method? Like, I don't know, _stabbing someone to death_ or something?"

"Well, what happened in your dream?" He asked.

"This person with that mermaid tattoo again, they were looking through a catalogue or something, and writing stuff down. Then they got out a knife and stabbed the pages."

"Stabbed the pages?"

"Stabbed the pages." I confirmed.

"Did you see the catalogue?"

"I don't know…maybe it was Golden Pages or something?"

"Golden Pages?" Kazuya frowned. "Don't you mean Yellow Pages?"

I scoffed. "No, Golden Pages. We're not part of the UK anymore, remember?"

"Hey." Houshou called over, looking at us suspiciously. "What are you two whispering all confidentially about?"

I quickly searched my pockets, and took out his badge. "You left this again."

"Oh, man!" Houshou snatched it from me, and stared solemnly at Kazuya. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this."

Kazuya sighed, but agreed reluctantly. "…Fine."

* * *

><p>Of course, all the news among the locals at SPR that night was of the grounded ships and, more avidly discussed, the fact Yasuhara's father had punched my brother.<p>

"Can't believe it…I know everyone's angry about the grounding, but to punch an officer…"

"That Hideharu is the biggest gobshite I know!" I could hear brief snatches of conversation as I served busily, most of the discussions lost beneath the hubbub of the many tourists that had swarmed the restaurant today. None of them seemed fully aware of what was going on.

"What an eejit. But I understand why he was angry. Those policemen are barely worth their salt."

"They've got a kid working the case? Are they mad?"

"They're completely incompetent. There's going to be more bloodshed, mark my words. A whole ocean full by the time they get their act together, in fact!"

I could hear someone quoting directly from Madoka's article.

"This is great, isn't it?" Masako muttered when we had a moment to catch our breaths.

"Grand. Completely fantastic." I agreed sarcastically, cursing Madoka silently.

The door opened suddenly. "Sorry I'm late!" John called out to Ayako over the noise, before sidestepping quickly when he realised she was a lot closer than he had initially thought. She had the drunken man by the scruff.

"Go home!" She ordered angrily. "And stop causing problems at my restaurant!" After throwing him out viciously, she turned to John and smiled warmly. "That's fine. You go ahead and get changed."

He bowed his head thankfully, and hurried away. When he came back out, I beckoned him over urgently.

"Sorry I'm late." He apologised again.

"It's fine." I waved it off. "Actually, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure."

I jerked my head towards the window and lowered my voice. "Lin's there. I'm too scared of him to serve him." He was sitting in his usual spot, watching us intently with his normal steely gaze.

"Oh, of course." John was about to walk when I stopped him.

"Wait, you've got something on your collar." I plucked it off.

"Oh, thanks." He went over to Lin and talked to him with ease, while I pondered why I'd bothered to fuss over his appearance, considering my lack of caring about my own. Maybe Masako was rubbing off on me.

I looked at what I had picked off from his collar. It was one of those strange blue scales again.

"Huh." I shoved it in my pocket. I wonder why John had that caught on his collar?

Later on, as everyone piled together their tips – another good haul this evening – we found ourselves drifting onto the subject of the boat grounding.

"Hey, Mai. I heard your brother got punched." One of my fellow waitresses, Keiko, piped up.

I grimaced. "Yeah. Lots of people are annoyed about this whole grounding business."

"Oh, that's terrible." John looked to me, concerned. "Is your brother alright?"

"He's fine, but all the fishermen sure seemed angry."

"It's because they think the police will ground their boats until the bomber is found." Another waitress, Michiru, told me informatively. "And they think that the police will take too long, and that their businesses will be ruined."

"I see…" Masako frowned. "I wonder how Yasuhara is finding all of this…"

"He's probably hating it, between his dad being an eejit and everyone gossiping about it." I guessed.

Masako sighed. "Poor Yasuhara."

* * *

><p>Having left the restaurant, shooing away the multitude of seagulls outside, I got on my bike and began a much more wary cycle home than normal, considering the stories of murderers. On the way, though, I stopped when I saw a familiar face hanging around outside Madoka's shop with two other youths I didn't recognise.<p>

"Yasuhara?" He was looking moody and desolate, kicking a can repeatedly against the wall.

"Oh, hey Mai." Though his voice retained its normal cheeriness, it was very forced. "What're you doing here?"

"Heading home from work." I glanced at the two other people I didn't know, both leaning against the wall, one smoking a cigarette. "And these are…?"

They ignored me, so Yasuhara answered for me. "This is Sekauchi." He gestured to the smoking teenager who looked up and nodded briefly. His face was pale and pasty, and his clothes reeked of a certain illegal substance that I'm sure would've made my brother have a hissy fit and do ten different drug tests on the boy.

"And this is Chiaki." He gestured to the other, a girl with a shock of green hair and heavily applied mascara. There was a sharpness about her face that made her appearance quite shocking in the moonlight, with her long black nails and her nose piercing, yet also a little intimidating.

"They're my friends." Somehow, I couldn't imagine Yasuhara being friends with them, but then again, John was friends with Lin. In fact, I felt I was not one to criticise things for being 'unlikely' when I had just discovered I had ESP a few days ago.

"Oh. Nice to meet you." They didn't say anything, so I turned back to Yasuhara. "So, how're you doing?"

He shrugged. "Fine. Why d'you ask?" He seemed reluctant to talk about anything related to today's incidents in front of Chiaki or Sekauchi, so I didn't ask further.

"No reason."

"Hey, do you and Masako wanna hang out some time?" Yasuhara asked, wanting to change the subject quickly.

"Yeah, sure. How about…" I trailed off. That feeling overcame me again, powerful and gripping me tightly like an ice cold wave.

"Mai, are you ok?" Yasuhara asked, looking at me with concern.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, sorry. Um…how about the day after tomorrow?" I struggled to speak with the intense anxiety overcoming me like it had that morning. Without waiting for an answer, I stammered hastily,

"W-Well, I'll um, I-I'll see you then." With that, I hurried away, cycling down the streets as fast as I could. It was suddenly vital that I go to Piccolo Corelli, though why I needed to go there, I had no idea. I just let my feet push the pedals.

The fresh air of the night cooled me pleasantly as I finally skidded to a halt on the street where Piccolo Corelli was located, my sweat evaporating into the air and leaving a cold trace behind on my skin. For a moment, I peered into the darkness that was only a banished by the occasional street lamp or lighted shop window.

My eye fell on the silhouette of someone walking rapidly down the street, nervously looking over her shoulder every now and again. I realised it was Noriko from the police station.

I quickly stepped off my bike, and unclipped my helmet. She looked pretty scared; maybe I should walk home with her?

"Hey, Noriko!" I called over, and she paused. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled briefly, still not able to dispel the worried expression from her face. "You're out late, Mai."

"Are you ok walking by yourself?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." She told me, readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Really, Mai, you shouldn't be out this late. You should go home." With that, she continued walking, ending the conversation.

Though I turned to leave, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong; that I shouldn't be leaving. It was Noriko – I couldn't leave her all by herself. Something in the pit of my stomach told me I needed to be keeping an eye on her.

"Wait." I turned back, then paused. Noriko was talking to someone. It would be rude of me to interrupt.

Suddenly, she fell to the ground.

"Noriko?" I called, dropping my bike noisily. A person was standing over her, as indistinguishable as a shadow. Seeing me, they ran away, panting hard as they sprinted down an alley and out of sight.

"Noriko!" I reached her, and knelt by her. She was groaning, her face pale and blood seeping out underneath her hands as she clutched her abdomen.

"Somebody! Help!" I shouted into the empty streets, scrabbling for my phone and dialling 999.

"I need an ambulance!" I did not wait to be asked. "Carlingford, Thoslel Street! Someone's been stabbed!"

The voice operator began to explain, calmly, how to minimise the bleeding, while I waited for the ambulance to arrive. All the while, a single thought echoed in my head, and remained there even when the ambulance arrived and took Noriko away.

The murderer had struck again, this time attacking Noriko, who had nothing to do with the fishing industry. I had no doubt that the person behind the bombings was responsible for this, and that they were going to strike again. But were they branching out now, changing their MO, targeting people who were unrelated to the fishing industry, like Noriko?

If that was the case, then who was next?


	8. Chapter 8: The Secret Behind the Scale

**(A/N): This was a really fun chapter to write.**

**I don't actually watch Free! (I know enough about it to understand what goes on if someone talks about it, and I know that some people get annoyed if you call it 'the gay swimming anime') but I do watch 50% off, which is absolutely brilliant (I love thug!Nagisa). **

**Thank you so much for all your nice reviews! They make me really happy! :D**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! (I certainly did :P)**

* * *

><p>"They said she's going to make it."<p>

I was sitting in the police station, Houshou's jacket wrapped around me and a warm cup of tea in my hands that Kazuya made me, its heat comforting and its aroma relaxing. By now, I had calmed down a little, but my hands were still itching as I remembered the thick coating of blood from Noriko's wounds that covered my palms. When the ambulance took her away, the police had brought me in to ask what had happened. I told them what I witnessed, though with difficult from my shaking nerves.

"T-That's good." I took a sip from the tea. It was some kind of herbal or fruit blend with a soothing taste that calmed me down further. "…So, she'll be ok?"

"She might have to stay in hospital for a while, but she'll recover. Her niece will have to stay with relatives until she's better." Houshou explained.

"It's a good job you were there, though." Kazuya spoke up. "If someone hadn't rung an ambulance straight away like you did, she might be in a much more serious position."

"Mm." I didn't feel happy. I felt scared. Whoever had attacked Noriko had entered the scene so quickly, that they must have been waiting for her. It scared me. Who would be next? Me? My brother? My friends?

"So, you saw the knife?" Houshou asked, thinking back to my witness statement.

"U-Um…I think so…" The truth was, I hadn't – I had just assumed Noriko had been stabbed. Thinking back to her wound, and how the person with the mermaid tattoo from my dream had been playing with a knife, it was the most likely scenario.

"That means it could be anyone." Kazuya sighed. "Knives aren't exactly difficult to come across."

"I'm sorry for bringing this up again, but are you sure there wasn't anything about the person that could help us identify who it is?" Houshou asked me gently.

I looked down at the cup in my hands, at the steam swirling slowly up from the liquid. There was one thing I could say that might help the police – something I'd only been able to tell Kazuya so far, something from my dreams. But I hadn't actually seen it in real life, and if I was wrong, it would cause more harm than good. Yet…I knew I was right. The bomber and the person who attacked Noriko were the same person, I knew it.

"…A mermaid tattoo." I spoke up quietly. "I'm sorry, I only remembered it now, but…the person had a mermaid tattoo on their arm."

"What?!" Houshou bent down to my level. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Whoever it was rolled up their arm when they…you know…and I saw it then." I was committing a crime here – giving false information to the police – but they needed to know that the murderer was someone with a mermaid tattoo. It would help the case hugely.

"Ok." Houshou scribbled this down. "From now on, I'll pick you up from SPR, ok? I don't want you travelling along in the dark any more." Houshou patted my head. "Alright?"

I nodded glumly. "Yeah." The thought was haunting me again and again – who was next?

* * *

><p>For the next few days, I did not see much of my brother, who was swept off his feet by a tidal wave of patrols, questioning and paper work following the attempted murder. Despite his insistence that I stay off work to recuperate, I went back to work at SPR the following night; I found it much easier to be doing something, working somewhere, than sitting along at home, thinking about the previous night and the gruesome images that accompanied it.<p>

Of course, everyone was asking me about what happened – in a small town like Carlingford, news travelled fast – but I avoided all conversations about it, keeping my answers to the bare minimum. It was not a topic I really wanted to talk about.

Over the next few days, I noticed the number of tourists getting smaller and smaller. The news of Noriko's attack had obviously reached them as well as the locas, and I didn't blame them for not wanting to stick around.

"Well, I like it this way." Yasuhara was commenting on the lack of tourists at SPR that night as I served him. Today, most of the local customers were gathered around Madoka as she described, in full detail, the results of her investigation into the case. She had wasted no time; in fact, today's first page article had been written by Madoka, much to her ecstatic delight. It had been entitled 'The Murderer with the Mermaid Tattoo.'

"It's more peaceful without so many tourists." Only he, myself, Masako, John, and Lin, who was sitting in his normal spot, were ignoring Madoka's report on the inner workings of the case.

"Well, maybe for you, but we like tourists." Masako informed him. "They tip much higher than the locals. And it's bad for Ayako, too. She got a lot of money from tourists, and if everyone stops coming here, her business will suffer."

"True, true." Yasuhara acknowledged her argument. "For her sake, then, let's hope that they come back. I just happen to enjoy the quiet without a hoard of tourists outside my bedroom window, and a beach I can walk along without having to dodge a dozen sandcastles and picnic rugs, if you get what I mean."

"I suppose." Masako nodded. "What do you think, Mai?"

"Hm?" I had been distracted, trying to see if Kazuya was at the restaurant today. Ever since Noriko was attacked, he hadn't showed up, presumably drowning in work like my brother was. Today was no exception; the spot underneath the chandelier was empty.

"The tourists." Masako waited for my answer.

"Uh…well, it's bad for business, but good for anyone who doesn't have a job actually in Carlingford." I summed up. "Let's just hope this case is sorted out quickly."

"Well, why don't we take advantage of our tourist-less town?" Yasuhara seemed to have perked up considerably over the past few days, since the spotlight of attention had been diverted from his father to the current case. "How about we go swimming in the sea when the tide comes up? Do the classic 'jump from the pier' thing? Before all the tourists come back."

Somehow, jumping into water that boats had been sinking in and bodies had been recovered form was the last thing I wanted to do, and I shuddered involuntarily. "Sorry. I think I'll pass on that one."

"How about you, John?" He turned to the Australian, who had just finished serving Lin. " How about a swim in the sea?"

John paled slightly. "A-Ah. Um, no thanks." He replied quickly. "I'm afraid of water."

"Oh, ok." Yasuhara shrugged, and turned to Masako. "Let me guess. You don't like swimming either, huh?"

"Not really." She smiled. "But I do enjoy watching it."

Yasuhara looked bemused, and I asked, "Are you thinking of that gay swimming anime you like?"

Masako scoffed. "First of all, it's called Free!. Secondly, it's more than just a 'gay swimming anime'. And yes, I was thinking of that."

"Mai, what's 'anime'?" John asked me quietly.

"Shhh! Sh sh sh!" I put my hand over his mouth. "Don't say that in front of Masako!" I hissed.

"Sorry, what was that?" Masako asked, hearing her name being mentioned.

"Nothing! John and I just need to get some napkins from the back." I dragged him away from the conversation. Behind us, I could hear Masako and Yasuhara talking.

"So… a 'gay swimming anime'?" Yasuhara asked tentatively.

"It's more than a gay swimming anime." Masako repeated. "Let me explain."

"Poor Yasuhara." I remarked as John and I searched the storage cupboard for some more napkins. "She's going to be giving him a lecture on…Makoharu or Reigisa or whatever they're called."

"Oh…so, what is this 'anime'?"

"It's a Japanese style of animation." I explained, a lot more brief in my description than Masako was. "Whatever you do, don't call it a cartoon. She hates that."

"O-Oh. Ok."

Wanting to change the topic, I asked, "Have you got a phobia of water or something, then, John?"

"Y-Yeah." He looked very uncomfortable about having to discuss it. "I can't stand it."

"Oh, I see." I was struck suddenly by what he had said. Something wasn't right.

"Oh, here they are." John took some of the napkins from the shelf. "Let's bring this back, shall we?"

"Yeah, sure…" I followed him out, turning my thoughts over and over in my head. What had struck me as so strange about his fear of water?

It was only when, lying in bed, the answer came to me: John had seemed absolutely fine when we were on that boat going over to Lin's lighthouse the other day. If he was afraid of water, wouldn't he have been terrified, crossing rocky waters in a small rowing boat filled with five people? But he hadn't even batted an eye. If it had been me with a phobia of water, I would have hated it.

The thought lingered with me. Of course, I wasn't one to judge how people should and shouldn't behave in the presence of their fears. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that John had lied about being afraid of water.

But why would he do that? If he hadn't wanted to go swimming with Yasuhara, he could have just said so. As I fell asleep, my mind worked on the puzzle diligently. And why was I always finding those scales around him? Scales from a fish that didn't even live in these waters? It wasn't like you could exactly keep a pet Blue Marlin, was it?

To be honest, the whole matter was very insignificant, but I allowed myself to focus on it. I'd rather this than be thinking about the attempted murder. So, why had he lied? What was with the scales?

An idea formed in my head. A bizarre, ridiculous idea. But somehow, I found myself accepting it.

* * *

><p>The next day, I had a new mission in mind: I needed to find out about John. That day, I had an earlier shift at SPR at the request of Houshou. My brother was still very nervous about me taking late night shifts, so for the next few days, I had requested to work the breakfast shift. None of my friends were there, but I knew that I should at least humour my brother for a little while, as I could understand very well why he was so anxious. The breakfast shift was not particularly busy, with only people who had stayed overnight at the inn present. It was a self-serve system for breakfast, so I didn't have to do as much work, and I found myself with more than one moment to spare. Taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere, I sidled over to Ayako.<p>

"Hey, Ayako." I greeted her as she cleaned a table, since the bar not open yet.

"Hi." She looked at me, and frowned. "What's wrong? You have a very…inquisitive glint in your eye."

"What? No I don't!" I shook my head emphatically. "I was just wondering something, that's all…"

Ayako smiled. "What is it?"

I glanced around the inn and, when I realised John was not there, I leant in close to Ayako.

"I was just wondering about John."

"What about him?"

"He arrived here a year ago, right?"

"Right." Ayako nodded. "Now, you're not allowed to go spreading information around, ok?"

"Of course not." I agreed quickly, and Ayako continued.

"John first came here a year ago, from Australia. At first, I hear he lived rough for a while."

"You mean…on the streets?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes. He has no relatives here, and at the time, he knew no one, and didn't have any money."

"Why did he come here, then?"

"I don't know. I remember he busked on the streets a lot, and for a little while, he was able to get by just fine with the money he got from it."

"Really?"

"Mm hm. He has a very, very nice singing voice. The tourists loved it."

I mentally filed away all this information as she spoke. "Eventually, he became friends with Lin – though I have no idea how that happened – and not long after that, he got a job here."

"Oh…."

"Why do you ask? I hope you haven't become Madoka's protégée or something, have you?"

"No, no, no!" I waved my arms. "Nothing like that! I was asking as a friend."

"I see. Well, if I were you, I wouldn't bring it up. Most people who have lived on the street don't normally like it when that kind of information is spread around. I trust you not to tell anyone."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I won't."

Quite soon after my conversation with Ayako, my eye fell on another person of interest. Kazuya was sitting under the chandelier, like he normally did, looking completely exhausted. His elbow was on the table, and his head rested on his hand with his eyes shut.

Tentatively, I walked over to him. "Kazuya?" I said quietly.

He barely stirred. His eyelids fluttered a few times, but otherwise, he was still.

"Kazuya? Are you asleep?" He had very nice eye lashes, I thought. They were quite long and very thick, the kind of eye lashes people were aiming for whenever they put on mascara. Even when he was sleeping, he was very handsome.

Wait a minute. I realised I should stop watching him sleep like a creeper.

Quickly, I tapped him on the shoulder. "Kazuya. Kazuya, wake up."

He started suddenly, and his eyes flashed open. Confused, he looked around then, remembering where he was, looked up at me.

"What is it?" He moved his hair out of his eyes self-consciously, embarrassed that he was caught sleeping. "Is something wrong?"

"Um…" I hesitated. Was really now the right time to be talking to him about my…theory?

"…Can I have your number?"

Kazuya raised an eye brow, amused. "That's rather forward of you."

"No, not like that!" I scowled, blushing. "I meant, I want to talk to you about…the case and stuff. And something that's been bothering me."

"I see. I've been very busy, though."

"Well, if you have a free moment, can we meet up to talk about it?"

* * *

><p>Later that night, I got a text from Kazuya, telling me to meet him at the police station. It wasn't as hard as I thought to sneak out of the house – Houshou had already come home, and he had already fallen asleep on the sofa, surrounded by various files and documents. Leaving him a note to say I was at Masako's house in case he woke up and panicked, I exited the house as quietly as I possibly could.<p>

When I reached the police station, I found Kazuya sitting his desk, looking as if he was about the collapse from exhaustion. Again, the room was filled with boxes and boxes of paperwork, documents had been scattered about the room, and I even saw the odd piece of evidence in a plastic wallet from old cases.

Tiredly, Kazuya greeted me when I entered the room. "Good evening, Mai. Have a seat."

Checking each step I took, in case I accidentally stood on a vital piece of evidence or something in the mess of the room, I sat down opposite him.

"It looks pretty hectic here." I remarked.

Kazuya sighed. "Hectic is one word for it. Not only are we up to our necks in work about the bombings and Noriko's attack, but I'm also trying to research the Yoshimi murders on the side. And that newspaper article – The Murderer with the Mermaid Tattoo, was it? – is not helping at all."

"What do you mean?"

"Thanks to the press, and by which I mean Ms Mori, people know that our murderer has a mermaid tattoo, and they'll start wondering why it is we can't find the murderer when they have something as obvious as a mermaid tattoo."

I pursed my lips. "….Well…why can't you?"

"First of all, we would need a warrant to go around, invading people's privacy and searching for this tattoo. Second of all, the murderer might not even live here, rendering the first method pointless. Third of all, we have no idea where this murderer got his or her tattoo, so we can't trace them that way. For all we know, they could have gotten their tattoo from Cork, or Belfast, or Madrid, or _Bejing_, or literally anywhere in the world."

"I see your point." He did not look like someone to trifle with at this hour.

He took a breath. "…What was it that you wanted to talk about? Your ESP, right? Did you have a dream?"

"Uh…no. I kind of lied about wanting to talk about the case."

Kazuya stared at me with an expression that would have given Lin's a run for its money in terms of scariness. Before he had the chance to murder me, I spoke up quickly.

"But it is important, why I wanted to speak to you! Honestly!"

Kazuya leant back in his chair. "Go ahead, then."

"Um…well…" I played with my fingers. "Um…" How was I going to put this without sounding like I was high or something?

Kazuya leant forwards and put his arms on the table, resting his head against them, his eyes shut. "Go on." He said tiredly, his voice muffled. "If you don't tell me, I'll end up falling asleep."

"I think John might be a mermaid!" I blurted out.

There was a moment of silence.

Kazuya looked up, his face blank. "…What?"

"I, uh…" I chuckled nervously. "…I think…John is a mermaid."

Kazuya sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He did not look ready to put up with this.

"…Mai…you do know that mermaid's don't exist, don't you?" He asked me slowly.

"Just listen, just listen. Right. So, I keep on finding these scales. I found one on something John had bought, and then another on his collar. I asked Yasuhara about the scales, and he told me that they came from a Blue Marlin, which live nowhere around here. They live in the Pacific. And which ocean surrounds Australia?"

Kazuya didn't answer.

"The Pacific! And, and, there's more! Ayako said that John is a really good singer, and mermaids are good singers, right?"

"I'm sorry, but that argument is not very convincing."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." It did sound pretty lame.

"So he's a good singer and you found some fish scales. Did it occur to you that, maybe, he just came into contact with a Blue Marlin at the market? And there are lots of good singers out there, and none of them are mermaids."

"But –"

"Look, you're sounding like the fisherman who came up to me, claiming he was saved by a mermaid."

"Yeah, but…" I bit my lip. "I had a dream about when he was saved, you know that, right?"

"Yes…?"

"Well, I'm certain there really _was_ something in the water. Something big with blue scales. I think that fisherman might've actually been right, and he was rescued by a mermaid. Aaaand…that mermaid is John!"

Kazuya put his head in his hands. "John is not a mermaid."

"Look, I know I sound crazy, but hear me out. So far, I haven't been wrong about anything, right?"

"Mai, this is an entirely different matter. You're claiming someone in a mythical creature."

"Well, I had to put up with your nonsense when you searched a boat without a warrant on the basis of a teenage girl's dream." I pointed out, crossing my arms. "I believe your argument was, 'if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but if I'm right, then it changes everything', and 'my mind won't be at rest until I search it.'"

Kazuya let out a deep breath, too exhausted to match my challenging glare or argue with me.

I leant over to him. "Please? Let's go check him out. It's almost 11, so his shift will be ending at SPR soon. Come on. Please? Pleeeaaaaaase?"

He stared at me for a moment, looking as if he was considering something.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaa –"

"Fine, fine! We'll go!" He stood up, moodily grabbing his coat and pulling it on.

* * *

><p>Waiting outside SPR while seagulls, ever scavenging, pecked at our feet, it was about half eleven when John finally left the restaurant. Looking out nervously into the night, he began to walk nervously down the street, towards the pier.<p>

"That's strange. John stays at the inn. Where is he going?" I whispered dramatically to Kazuya, who just grunted.

"Come on, let's follow him!" I grabbed Kazuya's arm and led him down the streets, sticking to the shadows to try and keep out of sight from John.

"Wait, it looks like we're heading to the pier." I whispered. "Is he trying to see Lin at this hour?"

Finally, John stopped, right at the end of the pier. Carefully, he got into one of the boats, and began to row across to the lighthouse, apparently ignoring the grounding of the boats. There was no one on guard, though, so he moved without unease.

"We need to follow him!" I exclaimed when he had gotten far enough away that we could show ourselves.

"How would you propose that? You don't happen to have a boat in your pocket, do you?"

I scowled. "No. But I'm sure we can just…borrow one…"

Kazuya groaned. "No, we are not 'borrowing' anything."

"Oh, come on! All the boats are grounded, so it's not as if anyone will be using them otherwise!"

* * *

><p>So, that's how we found ourselves stuck in the middle of the sea, our boat rocking gently.<p>

"I can't believe you dropped an oar!" I hissed, sweeping the beam of my torch light across the waves.

"Just help me find it." Kazuya growled.

"I mean, falling asleep at the wheel is one thing, but falling asleep in a boat…"

"It's not my fault." Kazuya snapped. "I've been up since three, I've spent the entire day up to my neck in work and having to listen to taunts from my co-workers about my age, and now I'm in the middle of the sea, stuck in a boat, in the freezing cold, looking for a _mermaid_, and the only reason I'm even doing this is because I like –!" He shouted.

When he realised what he had just said, he froze and went a deep red colour.

An awkward silence fell between us.

"…You…like what?" I asked quietly.

Kazua did not answer initially, and just stared out at the waves.

"…Nothing." He spoke up eventually. "…I just heard your brother saying he was worried about you. That you'd been a little upset about what happened to Noriko. And…I just thought it would be good for you to have something else to focus on, instead of relying on you so much for this case. It's not fair on you to have that kind of pressure. So…"

"…You were doing this to cheer me up?"

Again, he didn't reply, but a surge of happiness crashed through me. I had never really thought of Kazuya being someone with a particularly caring side, and it was endearing to know he had agreed to row into the sea in the middle of the night based on some wild theory of mine.

"Hey." I touched him gently. "This is pretty crazy, isn't it?"

A ghost of a smile flickered on his lips. "You could say that."

Thinking back now, I had no idea what had urged me into such a strange idea. Maybe I was really just desperate for something to think of; something to distract me from the nauseating images of Noriko lying on the road.

"How about we get that oar, and go home? It's cold out here tonight."

"That sounds like a good idea." He agreed, rubbing his hands together to get warmth back into them.

"Ok, where did this stupid thing float off to?" I muttered, straining my eyes against the darkness, scanning the light of my torch across the crest of each wave.

As I searched, something flickered near the surface of the sea; the water splashed, sending spray in our direction, icy cold against my face.

"Hey." I grabbed Kazuya's arm. "Did you see that?"

"No." Kazuya peered into the water. "What was it?"

"A fish or something, I think." A terrifying thought dawned on me. "…There aren't any…sharks around here, are there?" I asked nervously.

"No. Even if there was, the number of species of shark that will actively try and eat a human is extremely low. Only around 7-10 people die from shark attacks each year. Frankly, a person is more at risk from a cow attack than a shark attack."

"Oh." Still, it didn't reassure me.

"Ah, there it is!" Kazuya pointed into the water. The oar was bobbing up and down on the waves, not too far away from the boat.

"Let me just…" Kazuya stretched over the boat, his fingers straining for the handle of the oar, which was floating just out of reach from the boat.

"Hey, careful." I warned him. "You might fall in."

"I'll be fine." He assured me confidently, stretching further.

Something burst out of the water.

I screamed. Kazuya gave a startled cry and lost balance, toppling into the water.

"…Mai? Kazuya?" John was staring at us as he floated in the water. "What're you doing out this late? Kazuya, are you alright?!"

"John! What're you – Kazuya! Are you ok?!"

Kazuya spluttered water, struggling to stay afloat. "W-W-W-W…"

I grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the boat. He was freezing cold, and shivering violently.

"John, what're you doing?!" I demanded. "You shouldn't be swimming this late! And I thought you were afraid of water?!"

"Uh…" John was at a loss for words.

"Come on. Get out of there before you die from the cold. We'll bring you back to shore." I held out my hand to him.

Strangely, he backed away, looking at my hands as if it was toxic. "U-Uh, I'm fine, really."

"John, seriously. This isn't funny."

"You didn't bring anyone else with you, did you?" John glanced around nervously.

I stared at his back. "…John…what's that on your back?"

His eyes widened as he faced me quickly. "Nothing."

"N-No, there's…there's a fin on your back."

"No there's not."

"Yes…there is…" There was definitely a fin running down his back, I had seen it – pale, thin, translucent and almost glowing in the moonlight.

"I don't know what you're talking about." John insisted.

"Turn around for us, then."

He paled. "No."

"Why not?"

"U-Uh…Because…um…"

I frowned, then pointed into the distance behind John. "Oh my gosh, look! It's a shark!"

John gave me a look. "There are no sharks here."

"Damnit." I hissed.

Kazuya, who was still shivering, got out his mobile with shaking hands. It wasn't actually working, considering his little dip in the sea, but he pressed some buttons and put it to his ear.

"…Hello? Madoka?" I was certain he wasn't actually talking to anyone. "…Oh, you're here already?...Yeah, no, I can see you." He peered into the distance beyond John.

"What?!" John turned around, panicked. "You brought a _journalist_ with you?!"

"Aha!" I shouted, pointing at his back. "There _is_ one! There is a fin! Kazuya, look! Look!"

"I can see it."

John scowled. "What're you both doing out here?"

"Catching hyperthermia."

"We were looking for you." I explained, ignoring Kazuya's remark.

"Mai thinks you're a mermaid." Kazuya said briskly.

Instead of scorning us, John laughed nervously. "W-What're you talking about? Mermaids don't exist…"

"John, why do you have a fin on your back?" I asked suspiciously.

"No reason. I-It's a thing for swimming. Part of a swim suit." John lied unconvincingly.

"Fine. Come over here, then." I beckoned him over.

"No." He backed away.

"Come on." I held out my hand.

"No, I'm fine."

"Come on, seriously. It's too cold to be swimming." I reached out a grabbed his arm. Startled, he jerked away, dragging me with him over the edge of the boat.

As soon as I hit the water, the breath was knocked out of me.

"A-A-A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh….C-C-Cold…Cold…" I kicked frantically, treading the water to keep me upright.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" John asked worriedly, realising what he'd done.

I grabbed onto him, finding myself slipping further and further under the water. As my leg kicked out, my foot touched something rough, something serrated, something slippery.

Yelping, I back pedalled to the boat, where Kazuya grabbed me and pulled me out of the water, back on board.

"I t-t-touched something! A shark! Something's in there! There's a shark in the water! John, get out now!" I shouted, shivering from fear and the cold.

John sighed deeply. "Mai, there aren't any sharks here." He told me quietly.

"John, stop it! Get onto –"

"That was me you touched."

"…_W-What_?"

"It was…my tail." He swam closer to the edge of the boat, and rolled onto his side. Then he took my hand gently.

"It's ok. Don't be scared." He told me kindly when I lurched away. Carefully, he lowered my hand underneath the freezing water. He gestured for Kazuya to do the same. Cautiously, he followed suit.

My hand came into contact with something rough. When I moved my hand up and down it, I could distinctly feel the individual crests and edges of what I could have sworn were scales.

"N-No…" I breathed. "That's impossible." I mean, I knew I had been the one to suggest it…but there was no way it was _actually_ real. No way.

Kazuya's eyes widened as it clicked into place in his mind. "H-How…how is this scientifically possible?"

John smiled nervously. "…Ta da?"

The water splashed, and instead of a leg, a fish tail was raised slightly into the air. The dripping water and its own iridescent shine made it glisten in the light of the midnight sky, and each scale shimmered, casting off their own soft, blue light, just like the stars themselves .

I think that's when I screamed.


End file.
